Low carb, high protein, low fat... so many diets to choose from! We take a look at the diets of our lifetime, from the 1980s Scarsdale Diet to the recently popular "Paleo Diet." Some work, some don't! Which have you tried?
1. Ayds Diet – Ayds (pronounced as "aids") was an appetite-suppressant candy which enjoyed strong sales in the 1970s and early 1980s. It was available in chocolate, chocolate mint, butterscotch or caramel flavors, and later a peanut butter flavor was introduced. The active ingredient was originally benzocaine, presumably to reduce the sense of taste, thereby reducing the urge to eat.
By the mid-1980s, public awareness of the disease AIDS caused problems for the brand due to the phonetic similarity of names. The product's name was changed to Diet Ayds (Aydslim in Britain), but it was eventually withdrawn from the market.
2. Scarsdale Diet – For all the excess that was the ‘80s, dieting was uncharacteristically strict. The Scarsdale Diet was considered hardcore, composed of a 2-week high protein, low-carb, and extra-low-calorie diet (1,000 calories or less per day). This is a low-fat, high-protein diet. Grapefruit in the morning with a slice of toast, black coffee, water.
Lunch and dinner include fish, leafy vegetables, roasted lamb, diet sodas, tea and soda water. Lean meat is preferred. No oil, no mayonaise, no substitutions, no alcohol. This diet received a boost in sales after its creator, Dr. Herman Tarnower, was murdered by his lover in 1980. The goal of this diet was to help you lose 20 pounds in 14 days.
3. The Beverly Hills Diet – The original diet was a high in carbohydrate, low protein regime with very low calorie content. The new versions are less extreme than the original diet. Judy Mazel’s theory was that the body needs certain enzymes to digest food. If you don’t eat the right enzymes, your body turns what you eat into fat. She talks about “food combining” and “conscious combining” because her diet requires that you eat certain foods in certain combination, usually nuts and fruit, and that you never mix fruit and protein. Mazel believes that if you mix certain foods, you “confuse the enzymes” and thus gain weight.
The first ten days you are only allowed to eat fruit. On days eleven until nineteen, you eat only carbohydrates, sometimes fruit only and sometimes vegetables only, and no animal proteins. On day twenty, you can eat animal proteins. The Beverly Hills Diet lasts forty-five very food-restrictive days.
4. The Grapefruit Diet – The diet is based on the claim that grapefruit has a fat-burning enzyme or similar property. The grapefruit diet is a low-carb diet, which significantly limits the amount of fruits and vegetables one eats while encouraging meat intake; the combination of these high-fat, high-cholesterol foods with grapefruit was said to burn fat.
The grapefruit diet restricts consumption of carbohydrates by eliminating sugar, sweet fruits and vegetables, grains and cereals. Though the grapefruit diet originated in the 1930s, it came to popularity in the 1970s, and is still used today for people who want to drop a few pounds fast for an event because it only lasts for 10 to 12 days. It was re-popularized in the 1980s and nicknamed the "10-Day, 10-Pounds-Off Diet"
5. The Cambridge Diet – The Cambridge Diet is an extreme low-calorie diet dating back to the 1960s. Originally used in British clinics, The Cambridge Diet works by forcing your body into a state of ketosis. This occurs when the body does not receive all the calories it needs to function properly and is forced to turn to fat stores in order to function. Depending on the step you are on and the amount of daily calories you are consuming, the weight loss can vary.
6. The Cabbage Soup Diet – This diet was designed around heavy consumption of a low-calorie cabbage soup over the time of seven days. It is generally considered a fad diet, in that it is designed for short-term weight-loss and requires no long-term commitment. It has inspired several copycats based on similar principles. The typical claimed intent of the diet is to lose 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of weight in a week, though nutritional experts point out that it is nearly impossible to lose that much fat within a week. This has given credence to claims that much of the weight lost is water.
7. Atkins Diet – The Atkins Diet operates on the premise that eating carbohydrates increases insulin levels. A high insulin level tells your body to store energy. Throughout the '80s, people became aware of the association between red meat and heart disease, and the idea that carbohydrates were the answer to a longer life. By eliminating carbs from the diet, Dr. Robert Atkins says your body will begin burning fat for energy, and his diet has become hugely popular with people who can live on steak and bacon and eggs!
8. The Zone – The Zone is another diet that targets insulin control, but unlike Atkins, it does not eliminate carbohydrates entirely. Meals include 40 percent carbs, 30 percent fats and 30 percent protein. The carbohydrates must be unrefined, and total caloric intake per day runs around 1100-1200.
9. South Beach Diet – The South Beach Diet, created by Dr. Arthur Agatston, centers on eating good carbs versus bad carbs and controlling insulin. This Miami Beach cardiologist created this diet in the 1990s to refute the idea that low-fat diets do work over the long haul and the South Beach Diet was voted the most popular diet of the new millennium.
10. Mediterranean Diet – Between 27 and 34 percent of people in the US are obese, compared to Italy and France, where only 7 percent to 10 percent of the population is considered overweight.
The Mediterranean Diet urges you to eat the way southern Europeans do, which includes olive oil as the main source of fat. It incorporates food made from plants, fresh fruit as the typical daily dessert, dairy products (principally cheese and yogurt), and fish and poultry consumed in low to moderate amounts, zero to four eggs consumed weekly, red meat consumed in low amounts, and wine consumed in low to moderate amounts.
11. Weight Watchers – Weight Watchers is a highly successful diet franchise founded in the 1960s, which is why it’s not surprising that the idea of having support groups came from this era.
People who wanted to lose weight banded together and started forming support organizations. In 1961, Jean Nidetch welcomed people into her NYC home to discuss overeating. Then she lost 72 pounds and founded Weight Watchers. Weight Watchers offers two different eating plans for its customers to choose from. Following a point system for each different food, it is easy to create a menu plan following the calorie count and fat restrictions one which Weight Watchers operates.
12. Nutrisystem – Nutrisystem started with a liquid protein diet and has since expanded to offer portion-controlled meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner with one snack or dessert. The focus is on foods that have a low glycemic index, delivered to your home or office. It’s been around since the ‘70s, and it’s popular because all you have to add is fresh fruit, vegetables and fat-free dairy products.
The menus are customized for women, men, vegetarians and diabetics. This diet is popular for people who don't have time to count calories or make meals and who have trouble with portion control at mealtime.
13. Jenny Craig – Jenny Craig uses a food/body/mind approach to safe weight loss, developed by Registered Dietitians who design pre packaged meals for people on the go. It’s a diet that’s low in fat and cholesterol and high in fiber. Each client's personalized program reflects the latest research on nutrition, exercise and lifestyle change for effective weight management.
14. The Raw Food Diet – The Raw Food Diet is one of three popular diets that aim to eliminate meat and animal products. The Raw Food Diet follows rawism, which states that food in its most natural, unprocessed, uncooked state is healthiest.
Most people who follow the Raw Food Diet spend a lot of time peeling, straining, chopping, and doing other preparation to make meals. Dehydrators are popular because they can make dried fruits and give crunch to veggies without cooking in a conventional oven or stove. The staples of the Raw Food Diet include nuts, dried fruits, beans, whole grains, sprouts, and other fruits and vegetables.
15. The Cookie Diet – Dr. Sanford Siegal created his famous cookies in 1975 to help patients of his Miami, Florida medical practice control their hunger and stick to his reduced-calorie diet. The plan? Consume six cookies (approximately 500 calories) during the day to control hunger, and a reasonable dinner (300 calories) in the evening.
His "cookie diet" was an immediate commercial success, and by the mid-1980s, more than 200 other physicians were using Dr. Siegal's approach and products in their own practices. Soon, Dr. Siegal introduced shake mixes and soup with the same hunger-controlling properties.
16. Vegan Diet – A vegan diet is a stricter version of the vegetarian diet, which includes vegetables but no dairy products at all. A vegan does not eat anything animal-based, and the vegan lifestyle has been proven to significantly lower cholesterol and reduce heart disease.
17. The Paleo Diet – The Paleo Diet focuses on eating only what our prehistoric ancestors ate and nothing else. Paleo foods include fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and seafood – all of which are full of nutrients such as soluble fiber, phytochemicals, omega-3 fatty acids, low-glycemic carbohydrates and others.
The diet avoids any processed foods such as dairy products, legumes, cereal grains, and candies, which all contain refined sugars, saturated fats, and other harmful substances. The Paleo Diet recreates a food plan mimicking what hunter-gatherers ate before the agricultural revolution… a daily intake of about 1400-1500 calories a day.
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