Zihan Cui

How effective are fad diets, and what are their health impacts in the short and long term?

Started May 26, 2023

Abstract or project description

Fad diets, starting as early as the Victorian era in the 19th century, emerged as a way to lose weight and improve appearance. After two hundred years, people become increasingly enthusiastic about outer beauty. In America, it is reported that 45 million people go on a diet each year, yet two-thirds remain overweight or obese. From 2013-2016, 62.9% of individuals attempted to lose weight by eating less food (62.9%) and 50.4% attempted to lose weight through consuming more fruits, vegetables, and salads. Some fad diets include liquid or low carb programs. However, it remains unknown whether the claimed benefits of a fad diet has scientific support. As a result, different fad diets will be analyzed and related studies will be presented in informative blog posts. Scientific diets and tools will be recommended. It is important to keep people informed before they start a diet, because improper diets will waste effort and affect health. Only 20% of people are successful at maintaining weight-loss long-term. Furthermore, being allured by the slogan “lose weight in a short time”, people blindly follow fad diets without being aware of the fact that fad diets can be correlated with dehydration, malnutrition, cardiovascular diseases, impaired well-being and even eating disorders.