Summer is coming up and the thing that’s on most people’s minds is having that “summer body”. Unfortunately, summer is only eight weeks away, and that doesn’t give much time to prepare. Over the years there have been many diet fads that claim they will leave you looking thin and healthy within a short amount of time. Many of these fads may allow you to drop a couple of pounds, but they damage your health and nutrients, while other fads just don’t have any affect.

Why fads are a waste of time?

The most popular diet fads focus on only a few foods, or food groups, like the cabbage soup diet, grapefruit diet, strict vegan diets, raw food diets, and many low-carb diets. The problem with diet fads like these is people need to eat from a variety of food groups to be able to receive all the nutrients they need. When diets, like these, forbid certain foods and dieters are unable to enjoy luxury foods, those diets usually fail.

Detox diets like the Master Cleanse, the Hallelujah Diet, and the Martha’s Vineyard Diet Detox all have one thing in common. They are all unnecessary. All the flushes and cleanses are pure nonsense and have no scientific basis. The human body is well-equipped with organs, like the liver, kidneys, and the immune system, that helps get rid of potential toxins as well as cleansing itself without needing flushes or cleanses.

Fasting and very low calorie diets such as the “Skinny” vegan diet, the Hollywood Diet, and the Master Cleanse are all counterproductive. When you only consume a small amount of calories your body thinks it’s starving, and adjusts your metabolism. So basically, it “eats” muscle instead of fat, and stores fat.  Then, when you return to a regular eating diet, your metabolism has decreased tremendously.

The best way to lose weight is through a healthy diet and daily exercise.  To keep the weight off, aim for losing about 2 pounds a week.