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Dr. Mercola
March 18 2008
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Ridiculous -- and Ineffective -- Diets

diet, lose weightMany diets are ridiculous, ineffective, and even dangerous. RNCentral.com has compiled 25 such diets ranging from those that merely don’t work, to those that are somewhat effective but deceptively advertised, to those that can cause you physical harm.

Some of the most astonishing include:

1. The Tapeworm Diet: This one involves swallowing cysts that you‘ve dissected out of beef carcass. You allow the tapeworm to live in you for up to 10 weeks. One of the most dangerous diets, it requires you to swallow a parasite and encourages unhealthy eating habits.

2. “The Weight Loss Cure They Don‘t Want You to Know About”: The “cure” consists of ingesting the urine of pregnant women. Whether or not this is effective, there are simply better ways to lose weight.

3. The Wu-Yi Tea Diet: Wu-Yi tea is simply oolong tea, offering no more benefits than the tea you can pick up at your grocery store.

4. The Subway Diet: Eating at Subway for all of your meals is not inherently healthy; it depends on what you order. Plus, this diet is useless because you can just as easily make your own sandwich and take a walk.

5. The Cabbage Soup Diet: Eating a low-calorie cabbage soup for one week has been purported to help you lose up to 10 pounds. However, there’s the problem of high sodium content, extremely low protein, feelings of weakness and increased flatulence.

6. The Low-Fat Diet: Low-fat products aren’t any healthier than regular products, as they typically trade fat for more sugar, sodium or calories. Meanwhile, serving sizes are often skewed to make unhealthy food seem healthier.

7. Slim Fast: You may lose weight drinking Slim Fast shakes, but the products are not satisfying enough to subsist on long-term. This diet offers nothing more than ineffective substitutions.

8. Russian Air Force Diet: This diet allows you to put all kinds of herbs, sauces and spices on your meals, but the “meals” are incredibly tiny, leaving you hovering near starvation.

For 17 more silly diets, click the link below.

Dr. Mercola Dr. Mercola's Comments:
If you have been a student of natural medicine and been a subscriber on this site for awhile, you will instantly recognize the foolishness of the diet options in this article.

Nearly anyone can eat cabbage soup or grapefruit for a week and lose a few pounds -- although I am sure that there are a few of you out there that could actually gain weight doing this as well. But is this something that you want to do for the rest of your life? Of course not (nor would it sustain you from a nutritional perspective).

But the idea of losing weight quickly is a powerful one that coerces otherwise logical people into subsisting on diet shakes, apple cider vinegar, fast-food sandwiches and a host of even crazier diet foods and “tools” like tapeworms and urine from pregnant women.

Let’s face it, most people need and want to lose weight, so these approaches do have great appeal. In 2007 alone, up to 70 percent of Americans altered their diets in some shape or form to help them lose weight, a report by the International Food Information Council found.

Yet, whether or not these changes made them healthier is another story.

As the survey found, whether or not food is healthy is not the top priority among Americans when it comes to buying food. What is? For 88 percent of Americans, taste, and for another 72 percent, price. Only then does the health factor come in. Yes, the health aspect of the diet choice placed a distant third for most people.

Yet, as I said, the majority of people in this country want to lose weight (it’s always among the top New Year’s Resolutions). But not one of the diets mentioned above, nor the popular Atkins diet or South Beach diet, will help you to shed pounds in a healthy way -- and then keep them off.

Why? Because …

Dieting Does Not Work

Last year, UCLA researchers rigorously analyzed 31 long-term diet studies. They found that while people initially lose 5 percent to 10 percent of their weight, they almost always gain it back, often with some additional pounds as well. In the end, they concluded that most people are better off not going on a diet at all.

Another study, this one published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, will also make you think twice about going on a diet. After assigning 78 obese women to either a dieting group that had to count calories, restrict food consumption and monitor their weight, or a non-dieting group that listened to their internal body cues about hunger and let go of restrictive, diet-like eating habits, here’s what happened:
  • Non-dieters maintained their weight, while dieters lost weight and then regained it
  • Non-dieters lowered their bad (LDL) cholesterol levels, while dieters’ levels did not change
  • Non-dieters engaged in nearly four times more physical activity than dieters
  • Non-dieters increased their self-esteem and had improvements in depression, while dieters felt worse about themselves
A key problem with many diets is that they do not provide you with the tools you need to keep the weight off over time. So after an initial weight loss, people often end up putting the pounds right back on.

Yo-Yo Dieting Weakens Your Immune System

This cycle of constantly gaining and losing weight, or “yo-yo dieting,” is common among people using weight loss shakes and bars in place of real food. Over time, no one wants to eat artificial shakes every day, so most inevitably revert back to their old eating habits, and regain any weight they lost.

This is dangerous for a number of reasons. First, studies have found that the more times a woman attempts to lose weight, the lower her immune function is. On the flip side, women who stay at the same weight for many years have higher natural-killer-cell activity, which is a measurement of how well your immune system is working.

It’s also been found that women who lost at least 10 pounds three or more times had good HDL cholesterol levels that were an average of 7 percent lower than women who maintained a stable weight -- and this could increase your risk of heart disease.

Frequently gaining and losing weight may also influence a hormone called leptin, which helps to regulate your appetite and, if thrown off balance, can cause you to put on more body fat. This is one reason why people who diet frequently may actually have higher percentages of body fat than those who do not.

You Can Lose Weight Without Dieting

Your body will naturally reach the weight it is meant to be if you gradually start to change your perceptions about food and eating. Here are the keys you need to know:

1. Weight loss is not about depriving yourself of food. It’s about giving your body plenty of healthy foods so that you feel satisfied. To tailor this even further, you can find out your Nutritional Type, and indulge in the foods that are right for yours.

Nutritional typing is without doubt the single most important consideration in effectively losing weight. The exact same food that will cause one person to lose weight will cause someone else to gain. Your optimal foods are determined by your individual genetics and biochemical tendencies.

2. Listen to your body’s internal cues, not external ones. It’s been said that a key reason why the French don’t get fat is because they listen to their bodies and stop eating when they feel full (rather than when their plate is empty or their TV program is over).

3. Your emotions can cause you to overeat or eat foods that are not good for you. Removing these often unconscious emotional blocks can help you to lose weight.

4. Eat slowly, and savor every bite. This will help you to eat less while more thoroughly enjoying your meals.

5. Cook your food from scratch. This way, you control the ingredients and the portions, and you eliminate all those unhealthy “extras” like MSG, corn syrup, preservatives and trans fats.

6. Exercise. In some form or another, you need to stay physically active to lose weight. But this doesn’t mean you need to be a slave to the treadmill either. Vary your workouts, incorporating weight training, interval-type workouts, and things you find enjoyable (like yoga or dancing), and you’ll meet your exercise requirements before you know it. Strength training that increases your muscle mass is another powerful way to help burn fat stores more effectively.

7. Use Your Unconscious Mind to Make Being at a Healthy Weight a Lifestyle Choice. Medical hypnosis can help you remove the programming that is causing you to remain at an unhealthy weight and replace it with the eating and exercise behaviors of a thin person. Click here to read about the hypnosis program I recommend.

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Community Comments ( 72 )
 		Comment on this Article
  
  
healthfoodnut
 [ Joined on 06/06 ] [ Posted on February 29, 2008 ]
51 Points        
   
 
Apprentice User
Good thing this article came out  I was just about to swallow  some tapeworm larve because  the prednisone made me fat. Or was it the prozac that caused me to become severely depressed  so that food became my only comfort and friend? Or was it the MSG and aspartame that killed my brain cells and I thought I wasn't really eating much? 
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
qualitygeek
 [ Joined on 10/07 ]  [ Posted on February 29, 2008]
6 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
Maybe it was the DNP?
  
  
Mary Anne
 [ Joined on 06/07 ] [ Posted on March 1, 2008 ]
31 Points        
   
 
Novice User
I can tell you that I went from 206 lbs to 175 lbs in one year simply by eating only fruit, vegetables and meat.  I gave up potatoes, cookies and cakes, pop, chips, candy bars, Twinkies, white bread, hot dogs, baloney, oleo, ice cream, YOU GET THE IDEA.
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
Activity Cures Everything
 [ Joined on 06/06 ]  [ Posted on March 18, 2008]
2 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

Mary Anne! You rock! Congratulations!

Mercola
  
peggysue777
 [ Joined on 03/07 ]  [ Posted on March 18, 2008]
9 Points        
   
Apprentice User
  Mercola

Yes Mary Anne, I did the same thing.  I decided that if it wasn't a food a hundred years ago, then it's probably not a food.  This is what I go by everyday.  I eat Millet every morning with melted Coconut oil on it, then only real food, when you cut out soda pop you will loose weight, it is the worse thing you can do to your health!!  I have lost 30 pounds, I am 59 years old, 5'7" and weigh 127 pounds, this is just from eating real food, no preservatives or additives, no POP!!!!!  Beleive me it works, and I am never hungary
  
  
ZPE
 [ Joined on 02/08 ] [ Posted on February 29, 2008 ]
25 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
Ah yes - professional help!

That would have to mean a prescription for Ritalin!
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
CrowSnake
 [ Joined on 01/08 ]  [ Posted on March 18, 2008]
5 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

My poor niece took ritalin for a while, she became obese very quickly and is still quite over weight, she lost her balance and could not even ride horse any more until she got off it. She is now very down on her self and feels worthless, Weather or not you can blame ritalin is agrueable, but she was a happy, balanced, average weighted, very confadent kid.. Before. I was so mad at my sister when I found out she had let the school put that perfect little girl on that drug. But it was too late then.. It has been years and I really think it effected the rest of her life. She was so smart then, now she has flunked out of college, and is taking classes at a small school trying to get enough edicuation to at least get a fair job.

Crow

Mercola
  
CrowSnake
 [ Joined on 01/08 ]  [ Posted on March 18, 2008]
4 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

Drugs do have their place, but I had a pair of sibling foster kids.. They put the boy on drugs because he was violent, he went to counceling.. Well his sister was so MESSED up that she drove him to hit her. I wanted to hit her.. (I did not but wanted to more than once) I told them while he did need counseling for what his Dad had done to him, She was the one who was really messed up and needed counseling too. They did not want to get her help. Oh they had already put them both on drugs before I got them. And just kept ajusting the drugs. I kept telling them those kids needed seperated. They said no.. Eventually when I could no longer keep them and the next person, and the next could no longer live with them in their home, they did seperate them. When they finally seperated them He got to stay in that home.. She of course has been passed from home to home and I do not know where she is now. Probably pregnant somewhere.

Foster care is nearly a ticket to jail for boys, and early pregnancy or jail for the girls. The system is so messed up, if you hear them talk it is what the parents did to them before they were put in foster care, and yes it is an issue, but the system just makes them worse.

  
  
Islander
 [ Joined on 03/07 ] [ Posted on February 29, 2008 ]
17 Points        
   
 
Moderator User
"TheGrapefruitdiet:
...excessive consumption of this acidic
citrus fruit could lead to a stomach ulcer."

I thought we figured out that ulcers are caused by bacteria. What do "acidic
citrus fruits" have to do with it?
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
LadyPam
 [ Joined on 02/08 ]  [ Posted on March 18, 2008]
7 Points        
   
Apprentice User
  Mercola

EXACTLY, Islander!  Citrus fruit doesn't come near the acidity levels of the hydrochloric acid in a healthy stomach.

  
  
Debrah
 [ Joined on 11/06 ] [ Posted on February 29, 2008 ]
14 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
"Critics warn against teaching children that food can dictate performance and behavior, and depriving them of appropriate professional help from doctors." I too was upset by this addition to the list--I have always taught my kids that food is the first place to look if their performance and behavior need improving--though of course other factors need to be looked at--but professional help--it depends on what kind of help. My daughter is having a  difficult time with her 6 yr old--he was doing great, absolutely no problems at school--she does not have the best diet for her and kids but does supplement with fish oils and vitamins and avoids at least the worst(aspartame artificial colors etc)--which make a huge difference for all of them-she sees an immediate reaction to those artificial additives. But then her husband left her (again) and the same behavior problems started that occured the first time he left. The first thing the school wanted to do was have him evaluated for ADHD! Even after she explained to them that he had a very good reason for having behavioral problems. They are having him see a counseler now and stopped pushing the ADHD thing but only because my daughter is being very adamant that there will be NO drugs given to her son--especially since his Dad is a drug addict she is rightly worried about that approach. He really is such a sweet and wonderful little boy who just wants a Dad.
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
miragemama
 [ Joined on 06/07 ]  [ Posted on March 1, 2008]
6 Points        
   
Apprentice User
  Mercola
I saw this so many times working in the schools.  Any behavior that deviates from the "normal" behaviors in one's classroom, and many teachers were quick to tell parents that there children had ADHD or ADD and that the children needed to be evaluated for special education services and needed to be on medication.  As a school psychologist I then would try to put out the fire the teacher had started.  Before any child gets "evaluated" for ADHD, ADD or any other special education label, a "Student Study Team" meeting needs to be held by school staff which usually includes the principal, teacher and parent.  Sometime other support staff are included. The issues are discussed, behaviors are identified, and a plan is developed by the team to the help the child at home and at school.  After 3-6 months and the child's behavior is still continuing in the home and at school, and the behaviors are affecting the child's grades negatively,  then a special education evaluation is considered.  The child can qualify for an educational diagnosis of ADHD/ADD.  A medical evaluation is different and some argue that for a "true" ADHD/ADD diagnosis a Neurologist should be making this type of diagnosis, especially since medication is involved.   Like Debrah's daughter's case many times the child was "acting" out to a crisis in the home and was not ADHD/ADD.  What I stated above is just the short version of what should happen. 
  
  
Charisse
 [ Joined on 10/07 ] [ Posted on February 28, 2008 ]
14 Points        
   
 
Apprentice User
Nutritional typing and PACE exercise program seem to be the answer,,,,
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
mmc88121
 [ Joined on 11/06 ]  [ Posted on February 28, 2008]
6 Points        
   
Moderator User
  Mercola
Excellent comment Charisse, also EFT for the emotional component of eating.

Mary
Mercola
  
CSR
 [ Joined on 08/07 ]  [ Posted on February 29, 2008]
7 Points        
   
Apprentice User
  Mercola
Charisse, you are right.  I'm having the opposite problem--trying to *gain* weight.  The scale was stuck for several weeks on 107.5 (I'm 5'7.5") and I was getting frustrated.  I talked to my significant other about it and he suggested that I keep eating healthy, but maybe incorporate some more carbs.  Well, I began eating some organic whole grain bread and coucous, etc. and that helped me to gain a couple more pounds, but it hasn't been good for me in other ways, so I'll be backing off the carbs because clearly they don't agree with me.
Mercola
  
Reesacat
 [ Joined on 01/07 ]  [ Posted on February 29, 2008]
23 Points