It might be actresses such as Suzanne Sommers and Jane Fonda, or models
such as Christie Brinkley or Kathy Ireland.
It seems that a number of celebrities today offer their own weight loss
programs. The programs are appealing
because we see these various svelte celebrities and we want to have bodies just
like them. The celebrities are also
highly likable, so we have a predisposition to be accepting of their products.
However, did you ever stop to think whether these celebrities have any
nutritional training? Do they have
medical training? Is the information
that they offer nutritionally sound? Or
is it just a good sales pitch?
Nutrition experts Annette B. Natow and Jo-Ann Heslin, authors of the
book Get Skinny the Smart Way, say
that consumers should be leery of celebrity-inspired diet books. They point out that such books are often
based upon nutritional fiction and that, while the diets outlined in these
books may result in short-term weight loss, they can be far from healthy in the
long run. Therefore, you might consider
passing up the celebrity diet books and opting for those written by nutritional
experts instead.
But celebrities aren’t the only ones preaching fad diets. For instance, there’s the so-called
grapefruit diet which recommends consuming a grapefruit prior to each
meal. Another fad is the cabbage soup
diet, which requires you to consume all the cabbage soup you can handle. Other fads call for eating all the eggs you
can…consuming only raw foods…or fasting every other day. Such diets are not only based on nutritional
misinformation—they can also be dangerous.
For instance, let’s take a closer look at the cabbage soup diet. No major health organization has endorsed
it. Moreover, the American Heart
Association disapproves of it, noting that it can actually harm you. Promoters of this diet say that you can lose
as much as 15 pounds a week by following it—what they don’t say is that most of
that weight is water weight. Once you
begin eating normally again, you will see your weight rise once more. Some of the side-effects of the cabbage soup
diet include a feeling of weakness, stomach pains, and diarrhea.
Yet another questionable diet approach is what’s known as food
combining. Such a diet assumes that you
are overweight because you are not eating the right combination of food. The requirements of such a diet can seem
quite arbitrary. For instance, you might
be told that you can eat a banana only in the morning. This is rubbish, since your stomach can deal
with a variety of different foods at one time.
The idea behind such a diet is to eat food with fewer calories, but
there are other methods you can use to accomplish the same goals.
Some companies even claim that you can shed
pounds while you dream. They say that,
if you use their product right before bedtime, you will lose weight. In actuality, no company can make such a
claim with any degree of credibility. It
is impossible to burn a large number of calories while snoozing. In other cases, you may be tempted to try to
lose weight by consuming special milkshakes or candy bars. In essence, these products are just milk and
candy with certain vitamins and minerals added.
However, one rarely feels satisfied after consuming these products. As a result, you may find yourself actually
consuming additional calories during the rest of the day. While you might be able to theoretically lose
weight in the short-term, you’ll find it difficult to maintain the weight loss
over the long haul.
The fact of the matter is that there is a great deal of money that can
be made through the sale and marketing of diet products. As long as America has a large contingent of
overweight people, companies will try to make a profit off of overeating. It is up to you to be savvy enough to
recognize a diet fad when you see it and opt for a different approach to losing
weight. You’ll find that there are really
no short-cuts to weight loss. Any successful
diet program takes time, patience, and determination, along with a willingness
to change your eating patterns.
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