The 6 Worst Fad Diets For Gaining Muscle Or Losing Fat

Have you been on a diet lately? If not, you probably know someone who has, and with reason. According to the Center for Disease Control, over two-thirds of Americans (68%) are overweight or obese. To make matters worse, we are constantly being bombarded with advertising for fast food and unhealthy processed foods. On one hand, the media is tempting us with unhealthy foods and drinks, and on the other hand, ads and social media are presenting an image of “the perfect body” as the ideal for us to strive for. As a result, the diet industry is booming, our pockets are emptier, and there are tons of new—and dangerous diets popping up. Below you will find a guide to what I consider to be the 6 worst fad diets for anyone trying to build muscle or lose fat.

HCG Diet/Other “Dr. Supervised” Starvation Diets

HCG (Human Choriogonadotropin hormone) is produced in the first few stages of pregnancy by the mother's body. HCG shots are approved by the FDA for fertility, but the latest craze is getting these drops or shots for weight loss. There is no scientific evidence to back up this claim, and the health professionals administering the drug put patients on a 500 calorie a day starvation diet. Other diets that are in this category require that you spend hundreds of dollars a month on their special food, but you still don't get enough calories, and you are not allowed to exercise while on the diet. So, what happens is that you lose 3-4 pounds of water weight, followed by losing maybe 10 pounds of muscle, because your body is in starvation mode and burning muscle for energy. Rather than going to a “Dr. Supervised” weight loss center, make an appointment with a doctor you know and trust.

The One Food Diet

The Cabbage Soup Diet. The Baby food diet. The Rice diet. The list of “one food” diets is endless, and so is the list of people who have tried these diets and either gotten sick or gained the weight right back. Each of these diets claims that the one food you are eating is somehow going to help you lose weight, but in reality, the diet is deficient in many important nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. In addition, diets like the cabbage soup diet also fall into the starvation diet category, so you can add loss of muscle to the long list of reasons NOT to try these diets.

The Master Cleanse

Yes, detoxing can be healthy. No, surviving on water with maple syrup and lemon added to it for two weeks is not healthy. In addition, in order for your body to detoxify, it requires certain nutrients and vitamins—none of which are provided in the “lemonade” you drink. Simple sugar also damages your liver during detoxification.

The Water Diet or Water Fast

This is starvation at its worst. The water diet is basically drinking certain number of glasses of water (usually iced), and either eating nothing, or eating a couple of apples or some other vegetable or fruit. A water fast is just having water. Both of these will wreak havoc on your body and burn up your muscle faster than you can imagine. And as with all of the starvation diets, you will gain the weight back, plus more.

The Sleeping Beauty Diet

Taking sleeping pills so you sleep for two days a week and therefore, aren't eating during that time. Was this diet written by Courtney Love?

The Tapeworm Diet

Getting tapeworms on purpose? I have no words.

Six weeks to OMG

Only cold baths and showers, no fruit, and candy bars allowed? OMG is right.

Short-term diets don't work. The key to weight loss is finding a healthy way of eating that can become a lifestyle, eating mindfully (put down that remote), and having a balanced exercise regimen that includes both cardiovascular exercise and strength training.