Fad Diets - Essay Sample

Introduction

Eating is an essential activity for people as it provides the critical body nutrients necessary to sustain life. When one talks about eating today, it might be impossible for the term fad diets to escape their lips due to the popularity of such foods in American society today. According to one study done by Boston Medical, approximately 45 million Americans go on a diet annually with 50 percent of this number spending their money on dieting(Moston Medical Center bmc.org). The issue has become even more prominent in the health circles in recent years as many Americans have reverted to heavy consumption of fad diets with the anticipating more significant health benefits. Despite the health benefits that fad dieting confers to those who enrol in these diet programs, a closer examination of empirical evidence suggests that fad have adverse effects on human health.

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So, what are fad diets? Dieting fads are those foods that promise quick health benefits to the individuals involved to gain long-term health objectives. They often consumed in large amounts, and those who engage in this type of dieting prefer a certain kind of food over a given period. These foods come in different forms and follow a restrictive regime that one has to adhere to for them to obtain the maximum benefits. Some of the examples of fad diets include Paleo diet, Atkins, South Beach and Zone, among others (Atallah et al.815). Regardless of the regime adopted, each promises benefits within a short time, and strict following of the instructions on consumption is considered the secret to success in attaining the desired results.

How Did the Craze About Fad Diet Unfold?

Eating habits have been part and parcel of humanity for ages. Since ancient times, people were selective on what they consumed, and this depended on the availability of the food they consumed. However, industrialization in the developed not only increased the ability to produce a variety of crops and increased choices for consumers due to increased incomes but also changed how information about foods is distributed. The rise of mass media advertising has made it easier for dieting organizations to advertise with the intention of convincing public audiences about the health benefits of fad foods (Khawandanah and Tewfik 84). With the proliferation of the internet and social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, virtually everyone with internet can access information about dieting fads and make personal choices depending on the needs they deem fit on their own. Consequently, many people have embraced fad dieting as an alternative to tackling health issues about themselves.

Fad diets adverting on both conventional and social media can only be effective in convincing people to adopt them if there is a health need among the public. In the wake of the obesity crisis in the United States, many obese people are looking for ways of reducing their weight. Although there many programs initiated by many government agencies and hospital organizations to address the obesity crisis, individual citizens have taken it on their volition to solve the problem by relying on information they access from various sources (Johnson acsh.org). Fad dieting promises to reduce weight for a record time, and this allure of instant benefit has seen many Americans adopt lifestyles that follow fat diets as means through which they can reduce their weight. In fact, weight loss is at the center of fad diets though some other foods promise consumers. Therefore, adverting offers the people the information they need by convincing consumers that reduction of fat dieting is the way to go if progressive weight loss is to be achieved hence the mass migration of people to these diets.

Do Fad Dieting Really Have Health Benefits

Due to intense advertising on the traditional media, and the new tools of social media that allow easy access to information about dieting fads, fad dieting has been portrayed as having several benefits to the consumers. Some of the fad diets can actually confer health benefits. One of the types of fad diets that have been suggested as one of the best regarding the reduction of weight is the Atkins diet. The diet suppresses the appetite of people due to its ability to restrict other food consumption properties due to the high protein intake that the diet restricts. Due to this impact, the Atkins diet results in rapid weight loss within a few weeks of examination (Khawandanah and Tewfik 85). According to studies investigating the effectiveness of the food on obese patients, the Atkins diet reduces the amount of weight by 6.8 percent for three months compared to 2.7 percent realized by an energy-restricted diet prescribed by health professionals (85). Since the reduction of weight in significant amounts for obese patients, it is beneficial in the sense that it makes people's lives better hence the need for a recommendation. Therefore, fad dieting should be recommended for people who wish to lose weight for the betterment of their health.

Fad dieting has been traced to benefits that are not related to weight loss. Those who consume fad diets are likely to get benefits such as reduction of blood pressure. When blood pressure decreases in patients, this benefit is important in the sense that it changes the lives of the patients positively. The decrease in blood-pressure reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease (Gardner et al. 969). Due to these benefits, fad diets can play a critical role in mitigating the risk of cardiovascular ailments among people with high blood pressure. For this reason, it is essential that people embrace these diets for the betterment of their health. However, caution should be observed with the adoption of diets that advocate for a quick reduction of weight or any other benefits.

Fad dieting can lead to harmful effects because it advocates for rapid weight loss. Any strategy that advocates for quick health results, especially regarding weight loss should be taken with caution as it can have long-term health issues. According to Khawandanah and Tewfik, fad dieting results in quick weight loss that is occasioned by loss in water and muscle as opposed to body tissue. The practice can also lead to constipation, low energy and nutrients intake, which can, in turn, result in tiredness and inability to meet the nutrient obligations of food (86). Constipation and low nutrient intake lead to adverse consequences on significant consequences on obese patients. Thus, losing a lot of weight for short can have adverse effects which aggravate the health conditions of the patients.

Fad dieting should be discouraged as it does not longer concern the health of people but a source of enormous profits for business organizations. Marketing of fad diet foods has become big business. In many occasions, advertisements receive characterized by celebrity endorsements to promote consumption, and this has generated handsome profits for the organizations involved (Johnson acsh.org). The massive advertising has led to the development of a consumption cult. In a similar version to consumer products in the commercial market, every fad diet that is advertised contains a brand name and is depicted as being better than the competitor brands. The advertisements make every effort to convince consumers about the incredible health benefits of fad diets, and most of them are characterized by bias (Fitzgerald 9-13). A study that was done by Thomas et al. further finds that fad diets feed on the psychological situation of overweight or obese people by giving them a false alternative to address their health situation. What people consume depends on their perceptions of the potential health benefits and not the actual advantages and these perceptions are primarily informed by the media which is not honest (34). , and since the health of the consumers is not their priority, the information they provide cannot be relied on.

Besides the profit motive, eating foods that require a restricted regime in the name of fad dieting is harmful to one's health since they do not focus on the long-term benefits to the obesity patients. Overweight or obesity is a health issue that is caused by a variety of factors, including individual, biological and cultural. Fad diets cannot be a solution to weight loss as it focuses on one aspect of the problem and also does not address the long-term issues underlying obesity. Research has shown without doubt that obesity can only be solved by focusing on individuals, families and communities to instill complete overhaul on the way of people who are overweight(Thomas et al. 34-35). Since fad diets do not provide any long-term benefits and even short-term effects have harmful health implications, their consumption should be encouraged for the nutrients they have not that they have weight loss benefits that comprehensively address obesity.

Conclusion

In conclusion, fad dieting has become a popular technique of losing in the modern era. Studies have shown that fad diets result in the loss of a considerable amount of weight in a short period. Considering the worsening obesity crisis in the United States, these foods come in handy to solve some of the most challenging healthcare issues in US history. However, their use should be taken with caution because research has shown that they are not only meant to generate profits for the business organization but also fail to confer long-term benefits to patients. Overall, these foods groups benefit to the body, but they cannot solve the obese problem because it is a complex issue that requires society-wide measures that target individuals, families and communities.

Works Cited

Atallah, R., et al. "Long-Term Effects of 4 Popular Diets on Weight Loss and Cardiovascular Risk Factors: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials." Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, vol. 7, no. 6, 2014, pp. 815-827.

Boston Medical Center. "Weight Management." Boston Medical Center, 7 Sept. 2017, www.bmc.org/nutrition-and-weight-management/weight-management.

Fitzgerald, Matt. Diet Cults: The Surprising Fallacy at the Core of Nutrition Fads and a Guide to Healthy Eating for the Rest of Us. Pegasus Books, 2014.

Gardner, Christopher D., et al. "Comparison of the Atkins, Zone, Ornish, and LEARN Diets for Change in Weight and Related Risk Factors Among Overweight Premenopausal Women." JAMA, vol. 297, no. 9, 2007, pp. 969-977.

Khawandanah, Jomana, and Ihab Tewfik. "Fad Diets: Lifestyle Promises and Health Challenges." Journal of Food Research, vol. 5, no. 6, 2016, pp. 80-94.

Thomas, Samantha L., et al. ""They all Work...When You Stick to Them": A Qualitative Investigation of Dieting, Weight Loss, and Physical Exercise, in Obese Individuals." Nutrition Journal, vol. 7, no. 1, 2008, pp. 34-42.