The weight loss industry continues to boom as more and more people are searching for a quick answer to losing pounds and inches of body fat. Here is a look at the five most popular fad diets that tout claims of rapid weight loss, but also usually severely limit caloric intake as well as the type of foods that one is allowed to eat.

The Lemonade Diet

Made popular in Hollywood, the Lemonade Diet, also known as the Master Cleanse Diet, is used for shedding large amounts of weight in very short period of time. 50 calories per day is all that’s allowed on this particular plan, and dieters must only drink water with lemons, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper added to it. This fasting type of diet is used anywhere from 10 to 40 days and is said to detoxify the body and promote rapid weight loss.

The Atkins Diet

This diet named after the doctor who created it calls for the severe limitation of most types of carbohydrates. There are those that question the long term efficacy and safety of this type of diet as the body actually needs a certain amount of carbohydrates in order to function properly. During the first phase of the Atkins Diet known as the Induction Phase, dieters are limited to 20 carbs per day, and then increase that number with each ensuing level, ending with the maintenance phase which may contain as many as 60 carbohydrates per day.

The Hollywood Diet

Also referred to as the 48-hour Miracle Diet, the Hollywood Diet has gained plenty of both negative and positive attention in the last decade. This diet consists of claims of a 10 pound weight loss in just two days by eating no foods at all and instead drinking the “miracle” juice. This juice is said to contain vitamins, minerals, and a specially formulated blend of essential oils and antioxidants designed to detoxify and cleanse the system.

Much like many diets that promote rapid weight loss, most of the pounds lost are usually only water weight rather than fat, and will quickly return as soon as the dieter begins eating normally again. However, many people use this type of diet as either a temporary fix, as a way to lose a significant amount of weight in a short period of time, or to simply rid their body of the toxins that are released while fasting.

The All Liquid Diet

The All Liquid Diet features a ridiculously low amount of calories, usually only one to three hundred per day, and replaces meals with certain liquids, such as protein shakes, juices, and of course, plain water. Due to the severe caloric restrictions, medical supervision is usually a necessity for most people when following this type of diet for more than a day or two.

The Apple Cider Vinegar Diet

The scientific reasoning behind this particular type of fad diet is two-fold. Some claim that the pectin in the vinegar binds to the cholesterol within the body, and then helps to remove it before it has a chance to turn into fat, while others insist that it is effective because the apple cider vinegar causes fat to be burned for fuel, rather than stored in the body as extra weight.

When a friend told me about a new, exciting ‘lemonade diet’ over the phone, I had to stop myself from laughing into the receiver.  Yeah right!  I had tried diet after diet after diet and nothing worked – now she wanted me to drink lemonade?  I totally forgot about this diet until she came to stay with us one weekend.  She lived three hours away and we didn’t get to see each other very often.  When she got out of her car I almost didn’t recognize her.  Not only was she pounds and pounds thinner, but she looked 10 years younger.  My jaw dropped.  I had to get her secret. 

Only, it wasn’t a secret she blamed this new slim body and youthful look on.  It was that lemonade diet I had laughed about! When I began researching it, I realized that it’s not really called the lemonade diet.  It’s called the Master Cleanse.  I read some of the information about it on the internet and it sounded quite legitimate.  The information explained how the diet worked and how the toxins and waste builds in our bodies from years and years of neglect.  The Master Cleanse Diet helps you pass this waste and get rid of it, becoming healthier and healthier looking. 

This all sounded wonderful to me, so I began this diet.  While it does help you lose weight, it also cleanses your system of the harmful toxins that build within your body over the years.  Because of this, when I tried the master cleanse secrets, I felt so much better!  I stopped experiencing the every day aches, pains and frustrations that I was so accustomed to feeling!  I can’t tell you how amazing it was to truly feel great and young again. 

The first week I started the Master Cleanse program, I lost an average of 1 to 2 pounds a day!  While I took full advantage of this diet and lost all the extra weight I had been carrying around and being resentful about, it’s not the most important thing that happened to me. I had been battling depression for years.  I kept thinking there was something in my life that I simply wasn’t happy with.  What I learned was that our glandular system is affected when we carry around all these toxins.  This is one of the reasons that many people feel depressed, tired and sluggish and unhappy so much!  I was absolutely ecstatic when I began to feel less depressed, more energetic and completely content. 

The Master Cleanse was helping my body get healthier and my mind! I noticed the huge differences, my husband noticed the huge differences and all of my friends and co-workers noticed the huge differences.  In fact, I was so impressed that I decided to tell you about this diet!  It is the best thing I’ve ever invested in and hands down the best diet I’ve ever tried.  I highly recommend the Master Cleanse plan to anyone. 

Even if you’re not overweight, just cleansing your body of the toxins is worth the diet!  I am happier, younger looking and slimmer than I’ve been in years and I’m incredibly happy!

With numerous fad diets coming out in recent years, it’s no wonder a lot of people get confused on what to follow. Data had shown that the average American is getting heavier and it’s understandable that most of them would want to shed off those extra baggage. After all, who wouldn’t want to be fit and trim? But following these fad diets blindly is just as dangerous as staying obese. A person considering on joining a fad diet program ought to be armed with sufficient knowledge on proper nutrition so as to aid in the diet selection process. Sadly, most of the fad diets available in the market today do not include the achievement of balanced nutrition in their repertoire.

The American Heart Association (AHA) recently released its guideline for improving diet and lifestyle with the primary goal of reducing the risk for cardiovascular diseases. In a nutshell, it promotes the achievement of your ideal body weight, control of your levels of LDL and HDL cholesterol and triglycerides, normalizing your blood pressure, maintaining a healthy level of blood glucose, being active, and avoidance of smoking. Though the guideline did not specifically mention any fad diets, it recommends the intake a lot of fluids, fruits and vegetables along with high-fiber foods, whole grains and fish at least twice a week. It suggests the reduction of saturated fat intake and eating only lean meats and low-dairy products. Beverages and food with added sugars must also be limited.

The recommendations made by the AHA are certainly sensible but the fad diet industry still has a huge following due to its promise of almost instant gratification with absence of demand for lifestyle changes. The willingness for some to try some of these diets often leads to disappointment, waste of money, and adverse effects on health.

The American Dietetics Association dispels several myths associated with dieting with the release of their own guidelines. Here, the organization rejects the notion that there is a type of food that will make one lose weight, like grapefruit or cabbage. A person still needs variety in his diet to function properly and all these fad diets ever do is lower your caloric intake. The same can be said on diets advocating the increased intake of protein-rich food while reducing all the others. Caution should also be exercised if one is taking fiber supplements as this can lead to dehydration and constipation if one doesn’t drink plenty of fluids. One must also bear in mind that low calorie liquid diet was formulated under strict physician supervision and must only be used under the same condition. Use of these products indiscriminately will cause some unpleasant effects on your health.

So, before you decide on taking on a dietary program, make sure you completely understand its concepts and its proponents really know what they’re talking about. Always include enough exercise in your daily activities, as this is the only proven way to lose weight. Do steer away from fad diets that make overblown and fantastic claims of weight loss as more often than not, it’s just pure air.