Fad diets, miracle diets, diet cult… but no results.

Abstract

Fad diets, miracle diets (in sum, diet cult) are diets that make promises of weight loss or other health advantages (e.g. longer life) without backing by solid science, and usually they are characterized by highly restrictive or unusual food choices. These diets are often supported by celebrities and some health “professionals”, and they result attractive among people who want to lose weight quickly. By means of pseudoscientific arguments, designers of fad, miracle or magic diets usually describe them as healthy diets with unusual properties but always with undoubted benefits. After revising the history of these diets and exploring the scientific evidence, it must be noted that there is not a diet better than eating less, moving more and eating lots of fruits and vegetables. In addition, it is necessary to be aware of our general daily habits, remembering that eating is important but it is not everything. Getting active is also very relevant to improve (or recover) our health. Summarizing, eating healthy and taking care of yourself are a duty but not a miracle.

Keywords

• Fad diets
• ; miracle diets;
• diet cult
• weight loss
• ; healthy eating