A fad is defined in the dictionary as "a practice or interest followed for a time with exaggerated zeal." This can apply to a wide variety of things, such as Pokemon trading cards, toys, hairstyles, and so on. The focus of this post is on fad diets, and how they turn practices that may have been intended to be beneficial into unhealthy choices. The first major problem with fad diets is the fact that industries keep a close eye on the current trends and fads, and when they see a particular fad gaining popularity, you can bet that they will start extensive advertising campaigns for that fad. For example, once it was discovered that people were severely lacking in omega 3 fatty acids, companies began to advertise that their product contained these omega 3's. This was also heavily advertised through the use of the media, be it on a television show like The Doctors, or in health and fitness magazines. Another example is the strategy of ketchup producers to place labels on their ketchup that lets people know that lycopene, an antioxidant found in tomatoes, is present in their product. You just have to walk around a grocery store and you will see all different kinds of products that have advertising on them of why their product is a healthier choice than some other product of a similar nature.
The author of the article gives a good example of how a particular fad could come into being. Take for example vitamin D. It is a known fact that the sun can provide us with all of the vitamin D that we need. When our ancestors lived, back in the age of cave dwelling, they were outside the majority of the day, and they got all the vitamin D that they needed from the sun. Once we learned how to build houses and started to work in factories or offices, we didn't need to go outside as much. Eventually someone thought that we were not getting enough vitamin D, so dairy producers started adding vitamin D to milk. But for whatever reason, this did not catch on with enough people, so the idea of a vitamin D supplement in the form of a capsule was born. Since people had been getting insufficient amounts of vitamin D over the past decade, health guru's claim that vitamin D deficiency is the "root to a host of health evils." So some people are going to start to take large amounts of vitamin D capsules, which is a fat soluble vitamin and excess intake can cause liver damage. This continues in a vicious cycle of people realizing that they are deficient in some nutrient, and then the health industry comes up with an amazing supplement to try and solve our problem.
The author gives six ways to determine if a particular strategy is a fad or simply a good, common sense idea. Anything that claims to be capable of "burning away fat" or being a "superfood" is likely to be part of a fad. In terms of weight loss, a rapid loss of weight is indicative of a fad diet, as what is likely being lost is either muscle mass or water weight, neither of which are particularly desirable effects of a diet. Any diet that claims it can work without exercise is not only a fad, but is also completely untrue. Someone could have the healthiest diet ever, and still not be physically fit because of a lack of exercise. Low carbohydrate/high protein diets such as the Atkins diet are fad diets, because a diet is something that is supposed to be a well balanced amount of all of the essential nutrients that we need. By eliminating carbohydrates, we remove one of the essential nutrients our bodies need to properly function. This diet may have worked for our ancestors who relied primarily on hunting and gathering, but it is not suitable for our current lifestyle.
I am of the opinion that in order to live a healthy life, one must do several things. First, one has to have a well balanced, healthy diet. This diet needs to be supplemented with appropriate levels of physical activity, ranging from aerobic fitness, resistance training, strength training, and flexibility training. Also, proper levels of sleep are required to allow the brain to regenerate and grow. These are just basic things that one should do, there is much more depth to living a healthy life that what I have said in this post.
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