The werewolf diet
Although this doesn’t involve howling at the moon, it’s possible a little midnight bark would have the same effect on your waistline. Also known as the lunar diet, the core premise here is that humans are 60% water, so when the moon is full or at a new phase, there’s a gravitational pull that affects humans in the same way as the oceans. Apparently, this will last for 24 hours, and will impact how much water weight you can gain or lose during that period.
To take advantage of this, you’re supposedly meant to fast during the new moon and full moon lunar phases. According to the website moon connection, this will give you the potential to lose 6lbs in a single day.
The problem is that there’s no science that suggests the moon can impact the water in our bodies. In fact, American scientists note that the moon’s gravitational pull does not change during the lunar phases. They even point out that a mosquito sitting on your arm would have more gravitational pull on your body that the moon does. Perhaps someone should invent a mosquito diet!
The juice cleanse
Most of us are familiar with the juice cleanse – the idea is that you ‘reset’ your body by living mostly on fruit and vegetable juices for a few days at a time. Advocates of this diet suggest it will detox your system and allow you to lose weight quickly – all that fruit and veg can’t be bad for you, right?
Well, despite all those healthy-looking smoothies, a juice cleanse can often do more harm than good. Consuming only fruit and veg will deprive your body of calories and fibre, which can slow your metabolism and lead to your body burning its muscle mass.
The cleanse will also spike your sugar intake, which will cause large fluctuations in your blood sugar. This can lead to constant sugar crashes, so you’ll feel tired and sluggish.
If that wasn’t enough, the all-liquid diet also causes the body to urinate more, which leads to large amounts of lost water and salts. This can result in dehydration and low blood pressure – hardly a refreshing cleanse!
Our bodies can naturally detox too – the liver and kidneys will clean up any waste that needs to leave the body, so a juice cleanse can not only be damaging, but is often unnecessary. If you feel the need to ‘reset’, try drinking more water and adding more fruit, veg and fiber to your diet.
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The blood type diet
Thankfully, this diet doesn’t involve vampires, but its benefits are probably as real as Dracula himself. The diet originates from the book Eat Right for Your Type, written by naturopath Peter D’Adamo. It was New York Times best-seller, and has sold over 7 million copies – it’s no wonder people have bought into it.
The theory is that people with different blood types process food differently, so we should try to match our dietary habits with that of our ancestors. For example, those with type O blood are to eat lean meats, vegetables, and fruits, and avoid wheat and dairy. Meanwhile, type A dieters should go vegetarian, while those with type B blood need to steer clear of chicken, corn and wheat.
Although it sounds like there may be a genuine scientific basis here, researchers from the University of Toronto found that the nutritional needs of a person are not related to blood type. So, although the blood type scheme may help you lose weight, it will likely restrict your consumption of essential nutrition – opt for a safe, balanced diet instead.