14 December,2010 11:18 AM IST | | Sukanya Ghosh
The present fuss over body image is almost Kafkaesque; we have all become hunger artistes. Weight loss is a popular sport today, and we, no doubt, are its whimsical players. Here are some diets to be wary of:
The banana diet
This diet is simply about eating bananas in the morning. You can eat as many as you want for breakfast but not so many that you get a tight feeling in the stomach. Experts say that bananas are good since they are full of energy, but according to Ayurveda, they are loaded with Kapha, which is a cold and heavy energy. Some people put on weight with bananas, which would be counter-productive.
The grapefruit diet
This diet involves eating half a grapefruit or drinking 8-ozs glass of unsweetened grapefruit juice before each meal. Coffee and tea are also permitted. This fruit contains enzymes that speed up the way our body burns fats, which helps easy weight loss. But experts say that this diet only jumpstarts your weight loss. The diet plan allows no more than 800 calories a day. It is a very strict diet-plan for instant weight loss, but definitely not a healthy one as it cuts out proteins, fatty acids and carbohydrates.
The fruit juice diet
This one rules out the consumption of fibers and proteins. Fruits are best when had whole. Moreover, an exclusively liquid fruit diet cannot be sufficient for seven days. Again, it is eliminating more than one of the food groups from the diet. The most incredibly foolish part is that it encourages you to make up for your poor diet by taking protein supplements!
The cabbage soup diet
This diet might cause physical discomfort in the form of flatulence (gas) or abdominal uneasiness. Cabbage is known for its high fiber content and its detoxifying qualities, but at the end of the day it is depriving you of the goodness of other foods and causing you nutritional deficiencies.
