Lemon detox – the worst fad diet

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDJan 9 2012

There are a variety of fad diets - blood type diet, the acid and alkaline diet to name two. Among these the lemon diet that consists of consuming nothing but lemon juice, maple syrup, water and cayenne pepper is one of the worst say experts.

The three diets have topped the worst diet list in 2012 by the Dietitians Association of Australia. More than 50 of Australia's nutritionists took part in an online survey by the association, which asked them to list their three worst diets. Eighty per cent of them rated the lemon detox diet as the worst. This was followed by the blood type diet, which focuses food intake around your blood type and the acid and alkaline diet, which focuses on fruit and legumes.

“Women often think they are failures when they can't sustain such strict and unrealistic diets,” association spokesman Trent Watson said yesterday. “The truth is, it is the diets that are failing young women.” Dr Watson said people should focus on regular exercise and healthy eating. He said, “Ditch the fad diets, and choose a New Year's resolution around healthy eating and regular exercise. Small, sustainable changes over the long-term are much more effective than yo-yo dieting.” He encouraged people to eat breakfast every day, limit take-away meals to once a week, choose water as a drink and exercise most days.

A Newspoll conducted for the association found that of 200 women between 18 and 24, 40 per cent are hoping to lose weight in 2012. Perth dietician Margaret Hays said every New Year resulted in large numbers of people trying to lose weight through drastic methods. “There is no magic pill or cure, and people who lose weight very quickly on these fad diets will often put it back on, just as quickly,” she said.