July 21, 2021 2 min read

Many fad diets promote fast weight loss while ignoring the health needs of your body. They may get quick results, but they are rarely good for your body for the long run. Some of them can even cause long-term health problems.

A fad diet is a diet that becomes popular for a short time without being a standard dietary recommendation. Fad diets often make unrealistic claims for fast weight loss or health improvement, and there’s no singular definition of what constitutes a fad diet.

Fad diets usually consist of an assortment of short-term changes requiring little effort. They promote almost impossible and often dangerous claims, and they can encourage highly restrictive and unbalanced food recommendations that can lead to malnourishment.

These diets tend to be received negatively in the healthcare world, but some of these diets are backed by scientific evidence and have therapeutic benefits. For example, the ketogenic diet has been shown to potentially improve epilepsy, and the Mediterranean diet helps with diabetes and obesity. Many of these fad diets can have similar benefits when they are practiced under professional supervision.

When considering a new diet, there are some red flags to look for. If the diet promises rapid weight loss over 2 pounds a week, if the diet is nutritionally imbalanced or has highly restrictive requirements, or if the diet has a one-size-fits-all low effort premise, then it may be detrimental to your long-term health. Fad diets can also hyperfocus on appearance, require the purchase of a specific product, or be based on a secret that has yet to be discovered.


If you’re embarking on a new healthy lifestyle, it can be easy to fall into the trap of a fad diet. Fad diets usually promote quick weight loss to the detriment of your health. However, not all fad diets are bad, and no matter what diet you choose, it’s important to have healthy snacks on hand for when you’re feeling hungry. A high-quality, high-protein snack like Jawbox Jerky is perfect for staving off hunger between meals and works well with most diets.

Martin Kier
Martin Kier



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