Fad diets are diets that involve rapid weight loss, but are only to be followed for a short period of time.   The term has also come to mean any diet that explodes into national or international fame, only to plummet into obscurity. Some of these fad diets include the cabbage soup diet, the Atkins diet, and the cookie diet.

Another name for these fad diets are food faddism. Any time one particular food suddenly becomes a superstar, that’s a food fad. Common aspects of these fads include:

- Some elements of the food are said to have miraculous properties.
- Many other foods are completely eliminated from the diet, because they are thought to have negative properties.

One of these fad diets that has these elements is the Atkins diet. In Atkins carbohydrates must be avoided because of their negative characteristics. At the same time, carbohydrates are the miraculous element — actually the lack of carbohydrates because it creates a metabolic state in which the body burns fat at an amazing pace.

Although it is a long-term diet, it did have short phases during which carbohydrate cutting was taken to the extreme. Unlike many fad diets the Atkins diet was designed to be something a person could stick to for a long period of time.

As with many fad diets Atkins rose quickly and fell just as quickly. For a number of years the Atkins diet was everywhere, and everyone seemed to be following it .  Entertainment magazines were full of movie stars and music stars and sports stars who claimed amazing weight loss and fitness all due to the Atkins diet. But after the death of Dr. Atkins, the diet became much less of a household word.

Many fad diets can be quite dangerous.  The Subway diet made popular in television commercials wasn’t exempt. At its center was a young man named Jared who had lost hundreds of pounds in only a year by eating Subway sandwiches. Jared’s diet was severe — going down to 900 calories a day from over 10,000.  Doctors agree that weight loss on that scale isn’t healthy. Even so, the Subway diet when followed in moderation can work.  Particularly because the diet included exercise — Jared walked 6 miles a day while losing the weight.

Be careful when taking on some of these fad diets. A long-term eating strategy combined with moderate exercise is usually the better bet.

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