The 6 Worst Diet Fads

If you’ve visited a bookstore this month, you probably weren’t able to avoid the giant pyramid of diet books that magically appears right after Jan. 1.

Whether you find those titles inspiring or just guilt inducing, one thing is certain: many of them sound too good to be true. And often they are.

These popular weight-loss fads usually aren’t all that new, but they come around every year with new names—and maybe even a fresh celebrity connection.

Here are the six basic diet trends, why they don’t work and why they may even be unhealthy. You won’t find these exact titles on a shelf near you, but hopefully you’ll be able to recognize the gimmick when you see it no matter how it’s been tarted up.

1. The Fat-Free Diet

The theory: Eat whatever you want as long as it has no fat. If your diet contains no fat, you won’t get fat.

Reality check: While it’s true that extra fat in your diet adds calories, just sticking to foods touted as fat free doesn’t necessarily help.

Supermarket shelves are crammed with products advertised as fat free that are loaded with sugar and empty calories and that offer little in the way of fiber, vitamins or minerals. Check product labels before you buy.

Read more at Newsweek