Mythbusters: Spring Break Fad Diets

It’s self-care month here at SR and we’re here to embrace it. Spring Break is quickly approaching which means a lot of us may suffer from anxiety and stress about personal body image and self esteem. The media and society today has filled our brains with unrealistic expectations about the ideal appearance and body types of both men and women. The overwhelming amount of images influence many of us to go extreme lengths to achieve the ideal bikini body. We’re here to make 2020 the No Diet Decade. Fad diets are constantly trending among celebrities, professional athletes, and media personalities. We’re debunking the myths behind the fad diet crazes and explain how the “Dieting Mentality” can be toxic to your health.

We’re breaking down 3 major diet crazes and why they’re not worth your time or sanity. All 3 of these diets cause you to lose water weight, not fat. Shortly after returning to your regular pattern of eating, you’ll see your weight go back to square one.

The Juice Cleanse

• What is it: Drinking only fruit and vegetable juices while abstaining from solid food consumption

• It’s true, fruits and veggies are a great source of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. However, the juicing process removes the skin of the fruit, stripping the fruit of it’s valuable fiber while keeping the sugar. Juicing can hurt our satiety and cause us to lose muscle. These diets are also known to cause fatigue, diarrhea, and irritability.

• Why it’s a fad: Sometimes a cleanse contains a bottle of nut milk in the regimen that can account for some of the lacking protein, fiber, and healthy fats, but this is usually not enough to meet the recommended daily allowances. Nuts are an incomplete protein source, meaning that they lack some of the essential amino acid building blocks necessary for a healthy diet.

Master Cleanse / Lemonade Diet

• What is it: Dieters consume a quart of warm salt water in the morning; consume a 60-ounce concoction of water, lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper throughout the day; and finish with a cup of laxative tea in the evening.

• I know, we all want to be like Beyonce. As much as we love Queen B, going 10 days without food will not help you “overcome the psychological need to eat”. Before you sign on to this extreme diet, let’s look at the facts.

• Why it’s a fad: The diet lacks protein, fatty acids, and essential nutrients. The daily laxative can cause dehydration, deplete electrolytes, and impair bowel function. It also messes with microorganisms that perform digestive functions.

Cabbage Soup Diet

• What is it: literally eating homemade cabbage soup for a week. A very specific, random list of foods can be eaten in addition to the soup in random quantities on certain days.

• There are some beneficial attributes to cabbage: it’s great for digestion, packed with Vitamin C and K, and it’s a known anti-inflammatory. Plus, cooking cabbage makes its nutrient content more readily available to your body.

• Why it’s a fad: It’s not really healthy. It’s high in fiber and nutrients, but low in calories, protein, fats and other vitamins and minerals. Soup gives you a nice full feeling, but it doesn’t last for long and it doesn’t give you the energy you need. Depending on what ingredients you use, the recipe can be high in sodium. This diet has never been studied, so there’s no confirmation that it is actually effective.

It’s time to lose the diet mentality. You are the boss of your own body and it’s time we start loving our bodies instead of starving them. A diet isn’t sustainable and it hurts our relationship with food by taking the pleasure out of eating. Focus on eating whole, nutrient dense foods. Don’t count calories, concentrate instead on making sure your calories come from good sources. Don’t skip meals or starve yourself, and don’t constantly weigh yourself. Exercise because it feels good; there is nothing wrong with weight loss as long as it is coming from a place of self-love. Food is to be enjoyed, eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full. The key to happiness is not having the perfect body, it’s enjoying the moment and treating your body with kindness.