Every year, Business Insider ranks the best dieting of all times and this ranking is drawn by the steady dedication and expertise of a panel of nutrition and health professionals. 2017 ranked the DASH- Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension as the no. 1 diet again. Well, DASH has been winning this title for nearly 7 years in a row. I was wondering why it didn’t actually surprise me. It felt just like when the Ballon d’Or is won either by Messi or Ronaldo. The simple reason is that they always get it right at the first attempt itself with the same constant focus and vision all the way. The DASH diet is easy to follow and was devised majorly for people with high blood pressure. It still includes the basic principles of healthy eating with whole grain products, fruits & vegs, dairy and lean proteins. The perfect combo to improve your health and well-being. Their success rate is equally very high among people adopting this way of living. It got me thinking why shouldn’t I tell you about the worst diets I’ve encountered so far, especially from my darling clients- they are a part of my life that keeps me going and sometimes they even surprise me with amazing stories. What you always need to remember is that any diet leading to rapid weight loss is a complete NO NO and big threat to your metabolism. It adds a consequent stress to your glucose balance and eventually to your brain. No doubt why people on very strict diets are always grumpy.

I’ll have to tell you that for the purpose of writing this article, I’ve myself tried a few of these fad diets mentioned below. Here we go with a top 5 worst diets I’ve experienced:

1. The Raw Diet

It advises people not to consume cooked or processed foods at all. The Raw Diet believes that we should chew all day and that cooking destroys all the vitamins in the food. However, I think it is difficult and unpractical unless you have a dedicated mind to do it as it requires hours of juicing, chopping, blending, germinating and spouting which can be very hard to adapt in the long run. Besides, in some cases, cooking can actually enhance the nutrients in food and kills bacteria. For example, toasting nuts enhances their aroma and make their polyunsaturated fats more available.

2. The Blood- Type Diet

Invented by Dr Peter D’Adamo, it is based on the conviction that the foods you eat will chemically react with your blood and as such there are rules to what you should consume as per your blood type. With all the respect to him and his family, I really admire his dad’s contribution to the naturopathic world, I think it can be unpractical at some times. There is no tangible proof that this diet actually reduces weight as per blood type only as it still advises to eat healthily taking into consideration the basics of nutrition. And depending on your blood type, the diet can be very strict. For instance, I should have been a pure vegetarian and vegan adept.

3. The Lemon Diet

This one is pretty simple. You just spend days substituting your meals with lemon juice and honey. Even though lemon remains my best fruit on my list due to its powerful properties, it is also a potent diuretic. Drinking too much of it will drain your liver and you will mostly shed water instead of fat.

4. The Cabbage Soup Diet and The Grapefruit Diet

I’m sure most of you have at least tried one of them. Well I did both during my younger days. The advantage was that they are quick fix ones. You can lose subsequent amount of weight in the first week itself. I remember losing about 4kgs within the first week. But it is also an extremely low-calorie diet with no protein that can lead to rapid loss of lean body mass. My hair, nails and skin all slowly started to feel weaker and they eventually dried out. And believe me, you start taking up more weight than you shed when you get tired of that soup and juice.

5. High – Protein Diet

I think it’s the most famous of all diets as people find it easier to starve on carbs. It is also the diet that divides the health industry, especially dietitians and nutritionists. Some are for it while others are against it. What mostly happens with the high-protein diets that people won’t tell you is that both your kidneys and liver have a hard time digesting all these proteins and fats which can lead to a certain level of infection and complications. Your inflammation rate automatically rises and start messing up with your immune system. Besides without consuming carbs, your body will need your proteins to do the job of the carbs. In simple words, if your colleague takes on a long vacation, then my friend, you will have to do his job for some time and we all know how this will end.

If You are in search of losing some weight, believe me (I know you won’t like that), the longest one is usually the best one. It needs to make you feel good and lighter, that is, you feel less bloated. “Dieting” is also about detoxifying your mind. Extreme stressful situations such as hectic work schedule, messed-up situations, bad relationships reflect on your body and can make you gain lots of weight. You need to eat fresh and colourful vegetables and fruits, grains like fresh pasta, rice and cereal breads and lots of nuts (you must be thinking “pistas ek so ti la bierre glacée” is not completely a bad idea), tofu, lentils and less processed foods. And please throw away your Diet Coke or Light Butter or Low-Fat Cream/Low-Sugar Compote- they are just a SCAM.