FitSugar

Can You Debunk Diet Myths?

FitSugar — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:00:00 PDT

Losing weight is hard, but finding misinformation about dieting is frighteningly easy. Although I spend a lot of time debunking diet myths on FitSugar, I also never cease to get questions from readers wondering about the latest facts and fads. Can your separate truth from fiction? Take my true or false quiz to find out.

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5 Risks Associated with Fad Dieting

FitSugar — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 03:30:00 PDT

I know in a time crunch, fad diets can seem like an easy way to drop a few extra pounds. The thing is, fad diets are not always safe, so here are five risks associated with fad dieting:

Nutritional deficiencies caused by a lack of a balanced diet.
Lack of physical activity from emphasis on diet only can increase the risk of heart disease.
Lack of variety in foods can cause boredom and frustration, and make it difficult to maintain the diet for more than a brief period.
Severe restrictions on the foods you can eat may make it difficult to establish and maintain a healthy diet in the future.
Many quick weight-loss diets are based on unfounded claims that may do more harm than good.

Source

Guess the Fad Diet!

FitSugar — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 02:37:55 PDT

People are always on the hunt for the latest and greatest diet pill and quick-fix weight-loss program to help them shed pounds quickly. Some show results, others not so much, but in the end, we can all agree that fad diets aren't going anywhere anytime soon. How well do you know your fad diets? Let's find out and see!

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The Lowdown on the Dukan Diet

Leta Shy — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 15:35:26 PDT

The buzz of the Dukan diet - France's diet du jour - is reaching new heights here in the US, just in time for the book's American debut next week. It's got its list of famous fans. Jennifer Lopez and Gisele Bundchen both reportedly went on the diet to lose their baby weight, and there's speculation that It bride-to-be Kate Middleton is following her mother's Dukan dieting footsteps before walking down the aisle.

By eliminating certain carbs (simple carbs like sugars and starches) from your diet and instead eating low-fat, protein-rich foods, the Dukan diet promises you can jump-start weight loss and maintain it for the rest of your life. The plan does this with a restricted diet divided into four phases, each with its own list of foods you can and can't eat.

Of course, the heavy-on-the-protein diet has doctors worried it's the next Atkins, and with good reason. Want to know what the diet is all about? Read an overview after the break.

Foodie Friday Link Time

Susi May — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:23:20 PST

Upgrade your French toast to fight belly fat - Prevention
Fill up with fiber and cook with these ingredients - Real Simple
You can detox with food, and here's 50 recipes to help - Self
Treat yourself right and ditch the fad diets for weight loss - Huff Po
Hummus might be healthy, but here's why to skip it pre-workout - Shape
Robert Pattinson enables Kristen's potato-chip cravings - does your man? - The Stir
Fix your cheese fixation with these cheesy nibbles for under 80 calories - Health
Say hello to hemp and the many ways to put it on your plate - Fitnessista
The flip side of anti-obesity campaigns: they might cause eating disorders - Blisstree
Stuck on the road? The healthiest fast-food options out there - Fab Fit Fun

Test Your Knowledge of Fad Diets

FitSugar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:00:08 PST

It seems like every day a new diet makes the news. Some of these fads can sound promising because they're veiled in medical and health jargon or carry the backing of a celebrity or doctor. But reading between the lines reveals that regardless of the details, these diets are generally not healthy because they lack balance and are very restrictive.

Many of them are just plain kooky too - it's as if they're trying to outweird one another. How well do you know your trendy diets? Take my quiz and find out.

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Do Popular Weight-Loss Diets Work?

Shape — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:15:48 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar.

There's a mountain of evidence that suggests that fad diets don't function as permanent weight-loss solutions. So why do we continue to flock toward them when we know they're not very effective? After rounding up the top 10 searched diet plans on Yahoo! and noticing that almost every single one was a fad diet (such as the Atkins Diet, or HCG Diet), we wanted to know more about why we're drawn to these popular diet plans. So we went to Holly Herrington, a Registered Dietitian at the Center for Lifestyle Medicine at the Northwestern University Medical Faculty Foundation to get her take on these plans and whether they really work for weight loss.

Find out what - if any - fad diets work after the break.

Healthy Dose Link Time: Sporty Shades

FitSugar — Mon, 09 May 2011 10:35:53 PDT

Protect your peepers with stylish shades when working out - Fitness
Skip these three fad diets - Shape
Video gaming can lead to eating more - DailySpark
Reasons to treat your pregnancy like a marathon - Lululemon Blog
The raw and the cooked: which is better for your veggies? - That's Fit
Kate Hudson craves scones and clotted cream - Fit Celeb

Is the HCG Diet Safe?

Leta Shy — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 10:37:42 PST

Have you been convinced by the constant barrage of HCG diet testimonials? The diet has recently become the talk of the Internet, even though it was developed over 60 years ago.

The HCG diet claims this: HCG (or human chorionic gonadotropin), a hormone found in pregnant women, is supposedly responsible for releasing stored fat to feed the baby in utero. By restricting your caloric intake while injecting the hormone or taking HCG drops daily (typically for 23 days, but many people stay on the diet until they reach their desired weight), the hormone encourages your body to release its fat stores to keep you nourished - leading to weight loss that can be as high as a pound a day. Sounds good, but is it safe? We spoke with Adam Bornstein, editorial director of LIVESTRONG.com, to learn more about the diet and its safety.

Does It Work?
Judging by the amount of success stories seen on TV or on the Internet, the answer is yes. Many users have said that the HCG diet is not only effective, but sustainable. Guests on a recent Dr. Oz show, for example, said that they lost as much as 50 pounds on the HCG diet. Dr. Oz's guests also explained that the diet was only difficult for the first few days, after which the pounds melted away without the users ever feeling hungry.

Experts, however, aren't so ready to give the diet a stamp of approval. For one, there are no studies addressing whether there are long-term side effects in using the pregnancy hormone, and there are no studies that illustrate if the hormone actually helps your body burn stored fat. "There's no research that can actually back up these claims. It's all hypothetical," Bornstein said. The fact that dieters lose weight quickly can most likely be attributed only the dieter's ability to stick to a strict 500-calorie diet and not the HCG hormone itself.

Read on to learn if going on the HCG diet is safe.

7 Celebrity Kids Who Eat Alternative Diets

Rebecca M Gruber — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 08:32:40 PDT

Celebs are known to go on fad diets to get red carpet ready in an instant - Dukan diet anyone? But these days, it's their kids who are following the unusual eating habits. More than just picky eaters, these lil ones are removing wheat, nuts, and meat from their menus due to allergies and health. Take a look at seven Tinseltown tots moving beyond the children's menu and eating differently than other children in the cafeteria.