[In any field, there are always trends, fads, and followings at different periods of time. The health field has been no exception. Americans spend an estimated $50 billion dollars a year on weight-loss products. Today’s Hot Topic post will feature some of the top diet trends of the past millennium.
- 1930’s to 1940’s: Smoking and The Master Cleanse
Can you believe that Lucky Strike Cigarette ad campaign actually ran an ad that said “Reach for a Lucky Instead of a Sweet.”? Horrifying, isn’t it?
- 1950’s: Praying for weight loss
“Pray Your Weight Away,” which was published in 1957 was a best-selling book.
- 1960’s: Cabbage Soup Diet and Support Groups
Overeaters Anonymous was formed in the early 60’s as well as Weight Watchers in 1963. The Cabbage Soup Diet was also the most popular diet fad at that time.
- 1970’s: Atkins Diet Revolution and Diet Pills
Dexatrim was a hugely popular pill of the era. The appetite suppressant contained the drug PPA (phenylpropanolamine), and in 2000 it was pulled from shelves. Dr. Atkins published the Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution in the 70’s and the protein craze began the world’s misguided hatred for carbs. Carbs’ reputation has never quite recovered from this diet fad!
- 1980’s: Scarsdale Diet
This two-week high-protein, low-carb and super-low-calorie diet (1,000 calories or fewer per day!) touted that you could lose up to 20 pounds per week without any long-term deprivation of any vitamins or minerals. The diet was restrictive though: no butter, no salad dressing (except lemon and vinegar) and no alcohol. Your snack choices were either raw carrots or celery! Umm, I think I’ll pass, thanks.
- 1990’s: Low-carb diet
Damn that Dr Atkins! His diet resurfaced with a vengeance in the 1990’s. Suddenly, in every grocery store and in every magazine you saw food that was promoted as low-carb and high in protein. Many people followed this diet consuming massive quantities of protein and very few vegetables and fruits. Dr. Atkin failed to mention that consuming large amounts of protein is actually very harmful for your body.
So what are the top diet trends of today? Well, according to Glamour magazine, here they are:
1. Celebrity-endorsed diets: Stars like Jessica Simpson and Eva Mendes swear by Harley Pasternak’s 5-Factor plan.
2. Portion control: 100-calorie pack, anyone?
3. Organic diets: Followers believe that organic foods, without the preservatives and additives of their nonorganic counterparts, may help the body’s digestive system run more smoothly.
4. Diet delivery: Services like Chefs Diet and NutriSystem deliver either fresh or frozen prepackaged meals right to your door.
5. Sweet and savory diets: Think Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet (which originally began in 1975) —Jennifer Hudson is reportedly a cookie-diet fan — or the eat-croissants-for-breakfast-and-veggies-for-lunch philosophy of “French Women Don’t Get Fat.”
My take:
Diet fads and trends aren’t going anywhere. Unfortunately, the majority of society still believes that a quick fix solution to their weight loss problems is out there! It is much more difficult to ‘sell’ people on the concept of making a lifestyle change for the rest of their life. Many people don’t want to do that. Instead, they want a 30 day diet they can follow, lose the weight, and then resume their lives the way they were. I think that is why so many diets fail- many of them require that you cut out food groups all together and it just isn’t realistic for most people. Your body will not thank you for cutting out fruits and vegetables!
Today’s Hot Topic Questions:
- Do you agree with the diet trends of today? Can you think of any more?
- What do you think about some of the diet trends of past decades?
- Do you think that society will look back at the early 2000’s diet trends and gasp in horror much like we do with the earlier decades?
- What do you think the up and coming diet trends will be of the 2010’s?
- Did you ever follow a diet that worked and you have maintained the weight loss? What was the diet?
I followed the Atkins diet for almost a year when I was trying to gain weight. I had lost too much weight while away for a year, and when I came back my brother and my dad were on the diet. I figured a high protein diet and hitting the gym would be a good way to bulk up. It did the trick , but I don’t know how you would lose weight eating as I did. It was unbalanced, I cut out most fruit, and I would eat far too much red meat and butter. Being a control freak I liked having rules and a diet to follow, but I remember having dreams of people running after me trying to get me to eat bread. Talk about deprivation! Once I was healthy again I started to introduce carbs again, and found myself looking and feeling MUCH better! The Atkins diet stole a lot of my energy and wasn’t great for my skin.
In terms of looking and feeling good, I have always been my healthiest when I don’t diet. Anytime I go to France I say goodbye to any diet myths and health rules and eat exactly what I want. I always feel better, look better, and my clothes hang perfectly. I think the best diet is no diet at all!
i think some people really like “plans” to follow, but i agree its hard to get back to “real life” if you’ve just been blindly following a plan.
i did the south beach diet back in 2003 and i must admit IT WORKED. i lost 7 lbs! and i think i kept it off for like a year.
This is such an excellent post; I think it’s amazing how people are always looking for these complicated fad diets with all of their rules, when the simplest solution is always the right one; eat as unprocessed as possible, eat a good balance of foods, and get plenty of exercise. I made a promise to myself several months ago that I wouldn’t read any more “fad diet books” and would instead just focus on taking care of myself. I feel so much better:) Love your blog!
As awful as the Lucky ad it, it’s probably somewhat effective. I just don’t think the other side effects are worth it.
The low carb phase was way overdone. But on the other hand, it pushed me to think about the negative effects of carbs. At one point I probably went too low carb as well as too low fat. But now the awareness of both fads has helped me get a more balanced diet – not overdoing any type of food.
I do think the “high protein” diet is a fad that is currently too much in vogue. Nothing wrong with protein, but it doesn’t need to be the main focus.
Great topic! And I love the brief history you’ve listed. I agree with you – diet fads aren’t going anywhere. But I am at least hopeful due to all the healthy blogs out there (esp. yours!) about attitudes changing. Might not be everyone – but I think we’re all getting the word out there.
1980s: Oat Bran
1990s: Low Fat
2000s: Detox? Supplements? FOOD BLOGS.
2010s: Raw Food? Vegan/Vegetarian?
I totally agree that speedy/all-out diets are a no go for long-term health. It looks like that would just make people stuff their faces with all the things they couldn’t have during their “diet,” and it would be a vicious cirle/cycle.
We need to reivent the word “diet.” Or rather, bring it back to it’s former meaning: the foods that you consume in a single day. It’s become this taboo word meaning deprivation, starvation, control, out-of-control, etc.
We bloggers have the ability to change this! Honestly!
Great post! I don’t think fad diets ever really work. The only way to lose weight for the long term is to think of eating healthier as a lifestyle change, not a diet :)
Another current fad diet I can think of is the Japanese banana diet.
I’ve been reading your blog for a few weeks now and have pretty much been a lurker. This is an interesting topic, though, and I wanted to share with you some information I was able to find about dieting for a research paper I did in college about the influences Hollywood had on women during the 1920s. There some pretty extreme diets back then, with one of them being to eat only pineapple and lamb chops until you lost the weight. This diet was also endorsed by a doctor.
Another popular diet then was only consuming 500 calories a day by only eating grapefruit, oranges, toast, vegetables, and eggs. Crazy!
I thought it was really interesting that these diets were so popular during the 1920s. It’s definitely something I would have never guessed!
I was just thinking about this this morning, how timely!
The only “fad” diet I ever did was The Zone in the early 2000’s (how DO we refer to this decade??) and while it was not easy to follow to the T, it did teach me the importance macronutrients and being sure to get some carbs, fat and protein at every meal, to stabilize blood sugar and get the most from your meal.
And while I’ve never done Atkins, we do know that simple carbs are easy to go nuts with and don’t offer us any real nutritional value. No carbs? No way! The right carbs? For sure.
So what I take from this is that some of these diet crazes and fad diets have SOMETHING to offer. They sometimes get part of it right. I wrote this on today’s post but I like to treat any advice like a buffet: take what you like and leave the rest!
I fully believe we will see a huge move towards a vegan/vegetarian diet in the next 10 years. I believe in my heart that people will start to wake up to the horrendous treatment of animals in factory farms and that there will be legislation passed soon with regards to the environmetal side of factory farming, etc. It may start as a health “diet” trend, but then morph into an environmental and moral issue. That is my hope :) BTW….never tried any of the above diet trends except organic/vegan :) I heart carbs :)
I agree that vegetarianism and veganism will become hugely popular. My mom won this weight loss package (where you have meetings twice a week where they educate you about being healthy, etc.). They advocated veganism because of the fat that’s in meat products (however I was dissapointed to hear that they never went into detail about the different kinds of fats that are out there-and the difference in between good fats and bad fats).
My mom was raised as a farm girl and has eaten meat all of her life-and is now trying out vegan meals (though my step-dad is too much of a “meat and potatoes” guy for her to ever go completely vegan)
I agree with everything, but I have no clue what the fads will be in 2010! coffee only?
I have been doing WW for the past 5 years and it works! I lost about 25 lbs of college weight and have kept it off. It is a great plan, but I am slowly trying to wean myself off – not because I don’t think it’s great – but because I want to know that I can do this myself.
I am currently taking Lipovox, its supposed to help you lose weight, clear acne, and prevent wrinkles by having high concentrations of the ten superfoods endorsed by Dr Perricone. I mostly bought it for the acne since I went online and read tons of positive reviews and if nothing else its a good supplement. Do you know anything about this product? Am I a crazy person for buying this pill?
Also I want to participate in Project Glow, what type of blender do you have?
Thanks!
I think diets are all fads. I wonder why the health lifestyle isn’t pushed more since it is the only thing that works long term.
Awesome topic Angela! I totally agree with you. I don’t think fad diets are ever a good choice. Our bodies need every nutrient, and as long as we eat in moderation and watch our diets, we should be able to eat almost anything our body craves. What’s most important is learning to truly listen to your body and trust what it’s telling you that you need. These diets will never benefit someone in the long run, because who honestly wants to eat that way for the rest of their lives? We need to focus on a healthy lifestyle and choices that we can make the rest of our lives! :)
I think a new positive “diet trend” which we will see more of is people switching over to vegetarian and vegan lifestyles. This will help to solve many of society’s health issues, not to mention environmental concerns. I’m hoping that this will be one trend which will stick!
Oh, haha, I just went up to read the comments at the top, and saw some people had already said this. Well…I agree! :)
My friends parents decided to “get healthy” and they went on an organic food diet. They lost a TON of weight and look amazing. Their skin is the best it’s ever been and their energy levels are through the roof. Not only did they start eating all organic but they also quit smoking and started exercising. I think everything helped.
Green Monster diet! drink 3 green monsters a day and lose up to twenty pounds a week! Haha, JOKING.
But seriously, I am very excited to say that I tried my first green monster today! I was positive that it would taste horrible… I used original Almond Breeze, a whole very ripe banana, handful of spinach, tsp PB and a drizzle of honey. Amazingly, I think it was actually too sweet! But it did taste really good and I loved the colour :) next time I will skip the honey for sure.
Thanks Ange for inspiring me to try something new and healthy. And don’t worry, I will be eating healthy balanced meals all day, not green monsters for breakfast, lunch and dinner :) although I honestly could! yummy!
I love this post! It’s so interesting to think of diet and nutrition trends in the context of an entire century. I had no idea the Master Cleanse has been around for so long! I’ve never really stuck with an actual diet, I just try to eat healthy and well-balanced meals as often as possible.