If you have decided to lose weight, fat, or become fitter, you already know the best ways to get there: combine a healthy diet with an effective workout plan. However, there are so many diet options to choose from, that it might be difficult to find the right one that would suit your taste and needs. Here are the top 5 fat loss diets along with their pros and cons– choose one and enjoy incredible results!
Diet #1: Paleo Diet
You might have heard a lot about Paleo diet, also known as a caveman diet for fat loss because of its popularity. Paleo diet was the most searched-for diet in Google in 2013. This diet is called a caveman diet because it consists of foods that can be fished or hunted, such as fish, seafood or meat; and the foods that can be gathered, such as vegetables and herbs, fruits, seeds, nuts, and eggs.
This diet is low in carbs and high in protein with the processed foods excluded from the menu. Some nutritionists say that Paleo diet is beneficial for rapid fat loss and can prevent such diseases as diabetes, heart issues, and cancer. Like all the other diets, Paleo diet has its pros and cons:
Pros: Paleo diet will help you to increase your intake of healthy foods and make you eat less processed products. This diet is very flexible and easy to follow and doesn’t require calorie counting.
Cons: Paleo diet does not have enough scientific evidence and is based on an educated guess. Moreover, this diet limits the intake of some important foods, such as whole grains or dairy products and encourages the high intake of meats. Large amounts of meat are not healthy for human body.
Diet #2: Atkins Diet
“A balanced meal according to the Atkins Diet”
Atkins diet is another popular diet for weight and fat loss. The essence of the diet is to reduce intake of carbs, letting your body burn fat for energy. If you choose to follow this diet, you will lose fat rapidly during the first two weeks because of the high protein intake and only 20 grams of carbs allowed daily.
During the next few phases, your weight and fat loss will be more gradual. You will be allowed to eat more carbs to be able to maintain and keep off your weight for life. Here are the main pros and cons of Atkins diet:
Pros: Rapid fat loss is the main advantage of Atkins diet, which can be quite motivating, especially for those who lost the hope. This diet also requires cutting out processed foods but allows such delicious foods as cheese, cream, butter, meats and even mayonnaise.
Cons: Atkins diet encourages relatively high intake of saturated fats which is unhealthy and increases the risk of heart disease. Moreover, this diet might have side effects, such as dry mouth, dizziness, nausea and bad breath.
Diet #3: The 5:2 Diet
The 5:2 diet is also known as a fast diet, is based on the principle called intermittent fasting. According to this principle, you should eat regularly for five days of the week and fast for the remaining two days. In addition to weight and fat loss, the fans of the diet believe that 5:2 diet can reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s and improve brain function.
However, there is no scientific evidence for these claims. Some studies showed that 5:2 diet has a similar effect as other numerous low-calorie diets. Other studies concluded that this diet can help to prevent some types of cancers, such as breast, pancreas or colon cancer.
The 5:2 diet has advantages and disadvantages:
Pros: The 5:2 diet is very efficient for those who want to lose weight and body fat fast. Moreover, you don’t need to be on a diet all the week, but just two days per week, which is more achievable and easier. Even two days of a strict diet can significantly reduce your body fat and prevent some diseases.
Cons: During the five days of the weeks that are not restricted, you still have to make healthy eating choices and to exercise. During the fasting days, you might feel weak, irritated and tired.
Diet #4: Alkaline Diet
The alkaline diet is popular among many people including celebrities, such as Victoria Beckham and Jennifer Aniston. The main concept behind this diet is that modern eating habits cause the human body to produce too much acid. This excess acid turns into fat, increases the risk of arthritis, kidney, and liver diseases, makes you feel tired during the day.
The alkaline diet encourages reducing the intake of acid-producing foods, such as sugar, meats, coffee, alcohol, dairy products and processed food. Typical recommended products for Alkaline dieters are fruits, vegetables and some amount of protein and grains. It is interesting that Alkaline diet was originally created for a urine infection and kidney stone prevention.
The fat and weight loss observed among the dieters is most likely the result of eating a lot of fresh vegetables and fruits and reducing the intake of processed food.
Leafy green, onions, and cruciferous vegetables are key parts of the alkaline diet.
Alkaline diet has these main pros and cons:
Pros: Alkaline diet encourages reducing your meat intake, cutting off sugar and alcohol and increasing your intake of healthy foods, which makes it beneficial to your health. Reduced calorie intake will also help you to lose body fat.
Cons: This diet excludes some essential foods from your menu, such as dairy products which can result in calcium deficiency. Removing an entire food group from your eating plan is never a good idea.
Diet #5: South Beach Diet
South Beach diet is a low-glycemic diet that was originally developed for heart patients. This diet does not require calorie counting or limiting your portions. You can eat five meals a day, which consists of three meals and two snacks.
South Beach diet also encourages to follow a workout plan. During the first two weeks of the diet, you will eat lean protein, such as fish, lean meat or poultry, low-glycemic vegetables and good fats. Carbs are excluded in these first two weeks and are introduced during the later weeks. This method helps to lose weight and fat gradually and to keep it off.
Pros: When following South Beach diet, none of the most important food groups are excluded. You can skip the first two weeks of the diet and start from the third week of the diet plan that has fewer restrictions. After the period of two weeks, South Beach diet is simply based on typical healthy lifestyle principles.
Cons: South Beach diet has huge restrictions during the first two weeks. This can make you feel dizzy, fuzzy, tired and weak. You may also feel some side effects, such as insomnia bad breath and dry mouth.
No matter your fat loss goals, a healthy nutrition is a key to rapid fat loss. Choose the diet that suits your taste the most from the top 5 diets above or just change your eating habits.
Reduce bad fats and carbs, sugars and salt intake; increase your intakes of fresh and healthy foods, such as fruits and vegetables, lean meats, low-calorie dairy products, fish and whole grains. However, to lose fat fast, you might also want to consider physical activity and fat loss workout.
Fat loss diet alone will help you to shred some fat, but it will not make your body look fit, not to mention the health benefits of exercise.