WHAT? A diet promising rapid weight loss often through extreme, unsustainable and unhealthy regimes.

HOW TO SPOT A FAD DIET? Alarm bells should start ringing if you see a diet which:

-Claims you can lose more than 2-3 pounds a week

-Makes reference to ‘miracle foods’ or ‘superfoods’

-Restricts certain food groups or requires that you eat foods in a specific order (i.e. Beyoncé Diet)

WHY AVOID? The weight loss is often due to water loss which means once you start eating normally again, you are likely to regain all this weight (if not more!) What’s more, they’re boring, socially isolating, hard to keep up and down-right depressing to follow!

WHAT LURES PEOPLE IN? With so much confusing information out there on social media, it’s hard to know what diet to follow and who to believe. Whenever you’re online, it’s likely you’ll come across a new diet, celebrity or “superfood” claiming to offer a quick fix cure for miraculous weight loss, ripped abs and a summer hot body…Oh how we wish this was true! However, a quick fix is never a solution to long-term problems.

WHAT’S THE SOLUTION TO SUCCESSFUL WEIGHT LOSS?

-Plan ahead

-Be realistic

-Don’t punish yourself

-Eat three balanced meals a day and snack if hungry

-Eat the rainbow (more colours= more nutrients)

-Aim for half your plate filled with fruit and veg, a quarter filled with starchy foods (i.e rice/potatoes) and a quarter of lean, low-fat protein (i.e chicken/eggs)

-Drink lots of fluids

-Watch portion sizes

-Move more! Incorporate into your daily life.

-Remember your mental health is AS important as physical health

– Beware of the feeders: get family and friends on board!

– Don’t let the numbers on the scales define you!

WORST FAD DIETS TO AVOID IN 2017 (according to BDA/FTFs):

1) Clean eating

2) Diet pills

3) Teatoxes

4) The 6:1 diet

5) Green juices

WHO ARE WE? We are three student dietitians at King’s: Caroline, Elisabeth and Harriet. Together, we’re Fight The Fads, a myth-busting group who tackle myths about dieting in the media and set the records straight with regular posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter ( @fightthefads). Follow us in the NY as we work with the REAL nutrition experts to dispel some of those myths and remove the fear surrounding food.