There are those few who have no problem eating whatever they want, whenever they want to, they just don’t put any visible weight on. And there’s the rest of us, the people who have to track their nutrients/avoid snacking/have a more mindful approach to what we eat. Still, there is no reason for anyone to jump on some of these weirdest diet trends, the risks far outweigh the benefits.
1. Breatharianism
Breatharianism is a truly bizarre diet trend where people claim to live solely on air and sunlight, without the need for food or water. Followers believe that by practicing deep breathing and sun gazing, they can sustain themselves through prana or life force. This diet trend has raised eyebrows due to its obvious lack of scientific validity and the potential harm it poses to those who attempt it.
2. The cabbage soup diet
As implied, this is a diet that involves consuming large quantities of a watery, bland cabbage soup for several days. It gained notoriety for its simplicity and lack of variety. Followers often complain of feeling gassy and experiencing significant weight loss in the short term, but it’s considered weird due to the monotony of the diet and its unsustainable nature.
3. The cotton ball diet
4. The baby food diet
5. The tapeworm diet
Hands down, this one is one of the most repulsive and dangerous diet trends. It involves intentionally ingesting a pill that has a tapeworm egg inside, with the misguided belief that the tapeworm will consume some of the calories you consume. This practice is not only unproven but also poses severe health risks, as tapeworm infections can lead to serious complications, making it a truly bizarre and unhealthy approach to weight loss.
6. The werewolf diet
Followers of the Werewolf Diet time their fasting and feasting cycles with the phases of the moon, with the belief that they can lose weight and detoxify their bodies by emulating the lunar cycle. It’s an eccentric fusion of pseudoscience and folklore.
7. The clay diet
You mix edible clay into a glass of water, drink it, and then eat whatever you want to it. They claim it can remove toxins from the body, despite the fact that consuming clay is not recommended and may lead to digestive issues.
8. The air diet
This diet involves miming the act of eating without actually ingesting any food. Followers claim that by pretending to chew and savor invisible meals, they can reduce their caloric intake. It’s a quirky and ineffective approach to weight management and to getting a fully paid for hospital stay.
9. The sleeping beauty diet
10. The ice diet
This one involves consuming ice cubes or very cold water in large quantities. These people argue that the body burns extra calories to warm the ice, helping with weight loss. They drink a tall glass of ice cold water before bed and then proceed to take a weight-loss supplement.
11. The Primal diet
This diet trend encourages people to eat raw, uncooked foods like raw unpasteurized dairy products. It made it on the list due to the potential health risks and the lack of cooking, a fundamental human innovation that does exactly that, reduces health risks to a minimum.
12. The pineapple diet
A diet that consists of eating nothing but pineapple for two days of the week then to keep on eating whatever you would normally eat for the remaining five days. While pineapples are healthy in moderation, relying solely on this fruit can lead to nutrient imbalances and digestive discomfort.
13. The vision diet
For this one you have to eat blue-tinted glasses while eating? The reason behind it is this: apparently most of the foods we consider tasty find themselves in the yellow or red spectrum. Wearing those glasses is supposed to make the food less attractive thus making you eat less of it. Less potatoes, less meat, less sugary fruits etc.
14. The nose plug diet
Using the same rationale as the diet/hack above, apparently all you have to do in order to shed a few pounds is to block the smell from reaching your nose. Can’t smell it, can’t overindulge, can’t gain weight.
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15. The ice cream diet
This is theoretically a cleanse and it implies eating five pints of ice cream a day. Granted, it’s a “special” ice cream made just for this, with honey and coconut cream but still, at the end of the day you’re basing your diet on a whole lot of fat and sugar.
There’s no shortage when it comes to some of the weirdest diet trends you could follow for quick weight loss and we’re sure there’s even more to pop up in the years to follow. Just follow common sense. See a nutritionist if possible and try to live a balanced life. That daily cookie/chocolate square won’t transform into a sudden 5-pound weight gain but 10 cookies a day or a whole chocolate bar during your night movie sesh will surely do.