Should you be eating baby food?

Should you be chewing your food or swallowing it? Active checks in with dietician Richa Anand to find out the pros and cons of the baby food diet

Ever since rumours about Jennifer Aniston getting on the Baby Food Diet started doing the rounds, every weight watcher worth their weight in KGs has been hungry for details on the diet.
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So what if Jen's gone on to record to say that the last time she had baby food, she was one!

The Pros

The baby food diet involves eating small portions of baby food. As most baby food is not overly processed and is low on sodium, the diet can be mildly nutritious.



"It offers almost one-third the calorie intake of a normal meal. So it helps one lose weight fast," says Dr Richa Anand, chief dietician, LH Hiranandani Hospital.

The Cons

"As the diet is very low in calories it is not enough to sustain an adult's daily dietary requirements.
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It is also lacking in several essential vitamins and minerals," says Dr Anand. Since the diet is pureed and served in small portions, it creates another problem.
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"It does not offer enough satiety. So there's a greater risk of binge eating, which nullifies the entire point of going on a diet," she adds.
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The diet can have serious negative repercussions if overdone. "It can cause weakness, dizziness and nausea and bring immunity down leaving one more prone to infection," she adds.

The Verdict?

"The only way I'd ever recommend the diet, is as a detox for one day. Since the diet is very light, one could perhaps try it if one is unwell.

But any diet that limits or completely leaves out larger food groups cannot be good in the long run. A balanced meal is optimal," she signs off. Bottom line? "Leave it for babies," stresses Anand.

What Is The Baby Food Diet?

The Baby Food Diet consists of 14 servings of pureed food each day, followed by one adult meal. Portions are small.
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While the ideal calorie intake for an adult meal is around 400 calories, a baby food portion has a maximum of 100 to 150 calories.

Fruit smoothies, pureed oatmeal with a dinner of lean meats and vegetables are also part of the diet plan.

Other Bizarre celeb diets



The Master Cleanse: This diet should ideally carry a statutory warning. Beyonce supposedly dropped 20 pounds in two weeks on the diet of homemade lemonade, maple syrup, water, and Cayenne pepper. It involves eating no solid foods for 10 days.



The Apple Cider Vinegar Diet: Fergie and Heidi Klum swear by a pre-meal gulp of vinegar. Sounds vile? Apparently, it rests on the old wives' tale that vinegar cuts fat.



The Grapefruit Diet: This diet requires that the dieter eat half a grapefruit before every meal. Kylie Minogue is known to follow the diet for its alleged "fat burning" properties. However. meals can only add up to a total of 800 calories, which according to us isn't a diet, but a hunger strike!