Trend Analysis: Fad Diets
Fad Diets
Any American with a television set has surely seen an infomercial by some company touting the next fool proof diet scheme. These diet plans claim that customers will lose twenty, thirty, or many more pounds in weeks. Americans are obsessed with dieting, and rightly so. Today, thirty-three percent of the population is classified as being obese, or extremely over weight. This alarming statistic has risen almost ten percent from figures in the 1980s. At any time there are fifteen to thirty-five percent of Americans actively trying to lose weight. (Maynard) Therefore, with the population looking for a quick and easy fix for their weight issues, many turn to the fad diets. Americans spend forty billion dollars annually on dieting, so there is no wonder why there are so many companies trying to get their piece of the dieting pie. However, most of these diets are not based upon solid nutritional information. Many of these diets call for the dieter to only eat certain foods, while others recommend fasting, or almost starvation. Most of these diets do not give your body the essential nutrients it needs to function normally. There are also many negative side effects associated with the quick fix diets. Americans need to see the truth behind these fly by night diet plans and understand that there are healthy alternatives that will change their lives and promote long term weight loss.
The first, and probably most popular, of the fad diets is the low carbohydrate, or “low carb diet.” It is also referred to as a high protein diet. This diet has been made popular by the Atkins, Zone, and South Beach diet plans. There are an estimated seventeen million Americans counting carbs today. (Lankford) The thinking behind these diet regimens is that when a person eats sugars or carbohydrates, their body will produce more insulin. This, they say, will in turn increase the storage of fat and boost appetite. People practicing this diet are...
Please login to view the full essay...