Ever been tempted by quick-fix miracle diets or weight loss programmes that promise dramatic results? Check out the 10 diets that just don't work...
10 diets that don't work
You need to eat a variety of foods to get the nutrients you need - so ruling out an entire food group, or worse still, only eating one type of food is never a good idea.
Plus, you're bound to get fed-up with cabbage soup (and its side effects) in a matter of days – if not hours!
And while the diet claims you can lose 10lbs in one week, much of this is likely to be water loss.
The grapefruit or 'Hollywood' diet as it is known is pretty self explanatory. You eat a grapefruit with every meal while restricting your calorie intake.
There is no evidence to support the claim that grapefruits burn fat.
If you do lose weight on this, it's down to a restricted calorie intake rather than some magic property of grapefruit.
This diet involves drinking water, maple syrup, lemon juice and cayenne pepper (not a nice concoction) and nothing else for 10 days straight.
While fine for a day or two, fasting is potentially dangerous if done over a period of time, and it doesn't work.
Severely limiting your calorie intake will cause your body to go into starvation mode.
Your metabolism then adjusts to take and store all the calories it can – which means you'll put even more weight on as soon as you eat normally again.
Beware of diet plans that suggest you restrict your calorie intake for six days of the week and then eat whatever you like on the seventh.
This leads to an unhealthy cycle of binge eating and punishment – the very last thing you want to do.
To lose weight and keep it off you need to develop a normal, healthy eating pattern.
The theory behind this one is that eating only bland foods, such as dry crackers will help you lose weight as you'll be too bored to eat.
Of course, you'll be too bored to eat crackers but still ravenously hungry – and so likely to go back to your old way of eating.
Ah, the good old detox diet. How many times have you attempted one of these in the New Year?
Extreme detox diets that call for liver flushes, bodily cleanses and even colonics, are likely to do more harm than good.
The body has its own cleansing systems (namely the liver and kidneys) and there's no evidence to suggest that taking a magic powder or potion is of benefit.
There is no evidence to suggest that 'magic' supplements, like green tea or bitter orange, can help you to lose weight.
The best way to meet your nutritional needs is to eat a wide variety of fruit and vegetables – and possibly taking a multi-vitamin and mineral tablet if you feel you could be lacking.
Any other kind of pill or potion won't make any difference to your weight.
This one became a 'lifestyle choice' more than a diet in LA a few years ago.
Again, eating only one type of food, in this case raw food, is only going to see you crave forbidden foods and lead you back to your former eating patterns.
You need to be able to enjoy what you eat for any diet to work in the long term.
Beware of diets that involve cutting calories to under 1000 a day, or those that suggest you can lose five pounds or more a week.
While you will lose weight in the short term, this is likely to be from water, muscle and fat.
As soon as you eat normally again, the weight you regain is likely to be just fat. Weight lost slowly (i.e. a pound or two a week) is much easier to keep off in the long term.
If they ask you to send your money off now and promise to send you the 'secret' to weight loss, you can be sure it won't work.
Anything that sounds too good to be true usually is.
The best way to lose weight is to cut out sugary and fatty snacks, eat more fruit and veg and take more exercise. It may not be glamorous or exciting, but it works.