Why Fad Diets Actually Aren’t Good Diets

by Anna Frasso

Diet culture impacts all ages and all stages of life. One of the earliest memories I have of dieting actually came from watching my mom. When I was younger she would constantly have some sort of new diet that she was trying but I had no clue what they were. She would always make dinner for herself that usually didn’t look appetizing but then my sister and I would get something different. I knew her reasoning, though I didn’t always understand why, was to lose weight. It wasn’t until I got older that I realized that she was on fad diets. 

But what are they? Well, put simply they’re diets that are supposed to help you lose weight really quickly. They accomplish this by cutting either entire food groups such as carbs or recommending that you only have things such as cabbage soup. Usually these diets aren’t scientifically backed and are often proposed by people who don’t have any nutrition or dietitian background. But these diets really do more harm than good. Take the cabbage soup diet for example. This diet promises that you’ll lose 10 pounds in one week by eating only cabbage soup for every single meal of the day. Another part of this diet is that you can have 1-2 additional foods depending on how strict you plan to be with it. 

With the rise of social media, the idea of dieting is everywhere all the time. There’s been an increase of people making their social media following off of their results from these diets. Some of the more popular ones that are appearing on social media are diets such as the Keto diet or the Mediterranean diet. But these aren’t sustainable diets for several reasons and it’s important to understand this as these diets are beginning to affect younger people.  

Reason 1: They’re restrictive diets

The first reason that fad diets aren’t actually good diets is that they are restrictive in their nature. The whole point of following these diets is to see results as quickly as possible. This means that you have to cut as much of the “unhealthy” foods as possible. As mentioned earlier, the Cabbage Soup diet has a person eating just cabbage soup for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now I’m not sure about you but I don’t think I could eat the same meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner let alone just cabbage soup. By cutting out an entire food group or eating only one kind of food you’re depriving yourself of foods you enjoy. This not only makes meals less enjoyable but also leaves you with only one option or very limited options for a meal. It restricts you not only in what you eat but what you can make and for many people cooking or baking is a way to relax. When you constantly worry about what food you can or should have it can take a toll on your mental health.

Reason 2: They can cause disordered eating

This is not to be confused with someone having an eating disorder, though through these types of diets that is certainly possible. Disordered eating can reflect symptoms of an eating disorder however it isn’t to the same extent. Disordered eating breaks up your normal way of eating which can result in guilt and feelings of resentment towards food. For example, if you go months eating all your favorite foods whenever you want and suddenly you stop it to follow your diet you’ve disrupted your eating. Then let’s say you return to your normal eating habits, you begin to feel guilty because naturally you will begin to gain weight or have changes to your body. Seeing these results from your diet can be encouraging which can encourage those who follow the diet to continue eating in that manner to keep said results. Or if they notice that they can achieve better results following a different fad diet they may switch and further disrupt their eating. This can then create a cycle of starting other fad diets and switching to your normal diet and going back and forth in an effort to achieve similar or better results. 

Reason 3: They’re difficult to maintain long-term

Another part about why fad diets are ineffective is because they’re difficult for a person to maintain long-term. Usually maintaining the same diet isn’t the goal for those who choose to follow a fad diet because the premise of a fad diet is to be quick. But what ends up happening is that people see they’re making progress and are feeling better following it so they want to continue. The problem with this is that most of these diets are restrictive and can involve cutting out major food groups such as carbohydrates. Our bodies need fuel in order to be effective in whatever it is that we’re doing in our days and the way we get our fuel is through food. With the millions of things that we have to worry about in a day, the last thing that should be on our minds is what we should be eating to make sure we stick to our diet. Another reason they’re difficult to maintain long term comes with the social aspect of life. For example, say you get invited out for a friend's birthday and they want to host it at a steakhouse, if you’re following your diet strictly there’s the chance that they won’t have food for you. For many people they may choose to skip these kinds of gatherings all together in order to not feel tempted to “break” their diet. When there’s progress made people view the diet as being successful however weight fluctuates and it eventually comes back. 

Reason 4: They can have physical and mental health risks

As I mentioned earlier fad diets promote losing weight fast but this can present risks to your physical health. By following these diets there’s the possibility that you will become deficient in nutrients that you need as well as the possibility of heart problems. Again the point of these diets is to basically cut whatever is unhealthy but this actually causes more problems because there are nutrients that we get from certain food groups. Take vitamin D for example. This vitamin is extremely important for our bone health and it’s many of the foods we eat such as milk or cheese or eggs. If you follow the Cabbage Soup diet which again is just cabbage soup you’re depriving your body of vitamin D as well as plenty of other ones. This can lead to more problems for your body as you would have to supplement it somehow. But the effects of these diets also can be seen in mental health. Dieting comes with physical changes to your body which can alter your body image. This can be damaging because if you see rapid changes in how you look you begin to hyper-analyze what you wear or how it fits on your body and add on how social media is present in our everyday lives reminding us of what we should look like or how we need to lose weight. In addition to body image it can be taxing to constantly count calories or monitor foods and read labels. All of these can cause tremendous anxiety and worry that normally we wouldn’t experience. 

Dieting isn’t going anywhere but there are plenty of ways to go about losing weight and staying healthy that don’t harm your body more. Exercising whenever possible or choosing foods that are higher in nutrients we need or incorporating healthier foods are all better options for weight loss and staying healthy. Our bodies need fuel and putting your body through fad diets is not only harmful but it isn’t a good way to live. So the next time you see one know that you don’t have to follow it to be healthy or because it’s what everyone is doing, remember your worth is more than the food you eat.