11 (extreme) diets that’ll help you lose weight, possibly kill you

by George Embiricos

weightloss

Insane? Check. Disgusting? Check. The tapeworm diet revolves around the belief that introducing a tapeworm into the body means that all consumed food will be split between human and worm, which makes its way through its host’s digestive system. There is even reason to believe that tapeworm pills were marketed in the U.S. in the early 20th century.

1. Paleo Diet

The Paleo Diet (short for Paleolithic, also known as the Caveman Diet) has grown in popularity over the past two years. The concept is a serious throwback — 10,000 years to be exact — and consists of eating mostly fish, meats (pasture-raised and humanely killed), vegetables, roots, nuts and fruits. The diet excludes anything “refined” — including dairy, sugars, processed oils, legumes and grains. It’s a sacrifice, to say the least, but its adherents swear by it. Paleo-friendly dishes have also been increasingly incorporated into the menus of many restaurants across the country.

2. Five-Bite Diet

As wacky as some diets may be, at least their names are easily understood. The idea is simple: Take only five bites of a meal at any one time, regardless of its content. The premise behind the crash diet is that individuals’ bodies will readjust and feel full much quicker after a few days. The doctor who created the diet claims to have lost 60 pounds in only 40 days while following these rules. At last, could we have found a way to lose weight while eating McDonald’s?

3. Baby Food Diet

Thank you, Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. Only in Hollywood could such a stir be caused over baby food. The buzzed-about trend involves replacing some (“adult”) meals with up to 14 jars of baby food, which has been touted for its vitamin content, pureness and lack of additives. In addition to the nutritional benefits offered by the gooey stuff, portions are small enough to control cravings and avoid the temptation to overeat. Having trouble remembering what exactly you ate as an infant? We’re talking about pureed vegetables, meats and fruits.

4. Dukan Diet

The diet is rumored to be a favorite of Kate Middleton’s, who is most certainly a portrait of fitness. The protein-based weight loss plan originated in France and is based on eating exclusively from a list of 100 allowed foods, which includes several meat and seafood options as well as most vegetables. The diet consists of four phases: Attack, Cruise, Consolidation and Stabilization, with more foods allowed to be consumed as the program moves along.

5. Cabbage Soup Diet

The weeklong plan promises the loss of up to 10 pounds based largely on heavy consumption of, well, cabbage soup. The soup is easy to make and includes a variety of vegetables, including onions, carrots, mushrooms and tomatoes. The radical diet promotes eating various quantities of fruits and vegetables in addition to the soup, and allows beef in the later days. Critics argue that most of the weight lost is water and therefore not permanent, and that the diet lacks protein and is overly bland, while supporters maintain that spicy additions to the soup allow variety and help flavor.

6. P90X Diet

The diet program and home exercise regimen – 12 DVDs are included – claims to transform bodies from “regular to ripped” in 90 days. The plan involves three stages – Fat Shredder, Energy Booster and Endurance Maximizer. Dieters transition from eliminating almost all carbs and reducing caloric intake (around 1,800 per day) to introducing complex carbohydrate proteins and recommended meal plans.

7. Tapeworm Diet

Insane? Check. Disgusting? Check. The tapeworm diet revolves around the belief that introducing a tapeworm into the body means that all consumed food will be split between human and worm, which makes its way through its host’s digestive system. There is even reason to believe that tapeworm pills were marketed in the U.S. in the early 20th century. Of course, ingesting a tapeworm is essentially infecting oneself with a foreign living organism. The worm can even deviate into other parts of the body, including the brain, with potentially deadly results. Additional side effects include a vitamin deficiency and the fact that possessing tapeworms is illegal in America.

8. Hollywood Diet

Created by a self-proclaimed “diet counselor to the stars” and claiming that its followers can lose up to 10 pounds in two days, the Hollywood “Miracle” Diet consists of drinking a juice product as a complete meal replacement for either 24 or 48 hours. During this short period, dieters cannot eat or drink anything else. A more comprehensive version of the plan involves following the short-term diet and then substituting one meal per day for another Hollywood Diet product, a meal replacement made from 16 fruits and vegetables, for the next 30 days.

9. 4-Hour Body Diet

In the wise words of its inventor Timothy Ferriss, “Just stay up all night and eat.” The diet consists of saying goodbye to white carbs (bread, rice, pasta, cereal, potatoes and even whole grains and oats) and consuming the same four meals (legumes, meat and vegetables) for six straight days. On the seventh day, dieters are encouraged to binge-eat as much as they’d like, with the intention of stopping their metabolic rate slowing down from extended calorific restriction. Need even more convincing? The author recommends drinking two glasses of red wine every day to burn fat.

10. Acai Berry Diet

Almost everyone has heard of the “super berry” by now, and its reported antioxidant effects. While there is no specific diet associated with the fruit, advocates maintain that its consumption enhances general well-being and vitality, which aids weight loss. Still skeptical? Oprah publically revealed that she incorporated the berry into her diet.

11. Blood Type Diet

Founded on the principles of a naturopathic physician, the diet holds that blood type is the most important factor in determining a healthy lifestyle and recommends distinct eating plans for each type. For example, the doctor emphasizes the importance of vegetables and lack of red meat for individuals with blood type A and states that those with blood type B are the only group who can thrive on dairy products. For those of you out there with type AB, be advised that you are known as “the enigma.”

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Read this article in Food Republic

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

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