10 Worst Fad Diets In History

In our opinion, here are ten of the worst fad diets in history – the first two gems are taken from author Susan Yager’s new book, The Hundred Year Diet: America’s Voracious Appetite for Losing Weight, which she discussed on today’s Marketplace radio segment from American Public Media. Eat hearty! (Or don’t, as the case may be.)

1. The Hollywood 18-Day Diet: 585 calories a day of nothing but oranges and grapefruits – orchestrated by (surprise!) the citrus industry.

2. The Pineapple and Lamb Chop Diet: The logic? Theoretically, pineapple absorbs the fat from lamb chops, and you won’t gain weight.

3. The Cabbage Soup Diet: Hello, flatulence.

4. The Amputation Diet: Involves diuretics, enemas, clipping your toenails, wearing contact lenses instead of glasses, liposuction, breast reduction surgery, donating a kidney, and cutting off limbs. Fun for the whole family!

5. The Paleolithic Diet: Because cavemen were fit.

6. The Chocolate Diet: Um, what’s not to love here?

7. The Russian Air Force Diet: Yet another reason not to join the Russian Air Force.

8. The Bread and Butter Diet: Where do we sign?

9. The 7-Day All-You-Can-Eat Diet: We’ve been on this diet for our entire lives.

10. The Israeli Army Diet: It may not work or even be good for us, but generally speaking, Israeli Army guys are hot.

via faddiet.com, Wikipedia, webterrace.com, and Marketplace American Public Media