Rapid weight loss seems to be the goal of many people who are contemplating starting a diet. We live in an age of instant results: we have a question, we Google it and receive an immediate answer. We want to communicate with a friend, we call them from our cell phone, wherever we are, and reach them instantly wherever they are. When beginning a diet, most people therefore expect to see instant results. And there are many companies out there waiting to take advantage of consumers, promising rapid weight loss results with little or no effort. In fact, did you know that Americans spend over $33 billion every year looking for that magic pill, drink, or formula?
Well, the million—or multi-billion—dollar question then becomes: “Do these rapid weight loss programs work?” I’ve compiled some research about various diets for you to draw your own conclusions.
First, we have the starvation diets. These come in many different forms, although the most popular one has dieters drinking nothing but water, lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. The claim is that you will detoxify your body. This diet program does nothing to help you burn fat or build muscle. It is not healthy, and you would be hard pressed to find any medical expert who would recommend this diet.
The second most popular would be the diets that severely restrict the number of calories you intake every day. While this is proven to be safe, when medically supervised, it can be expensive to buy the types of foods this diet calls for.
The third most common solution is the magic pills and supplements. These claim that you can lose up to ten pounds in just a couple of weeks, and that you will have a new body before you know it. Some of these have been found to be very dangerous. In fact, Hydroxycut was just pulled from the market because it is so dangerous. The FDA does not regulate these, and they can be harmful.
The bottom line is, there is no substitute for physical exercise and a sensible, well-balanced diet.