Rapid Weight Loss: What Is It?
Many marketers promise "fast weight loss" it's difficult to sort through them all.
Most rapid weight loss fall into these categories:
Starvation Diets
Beyonce popularized the so-called "master cleanse" diet: water, lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper.
Variations of these diets have been around since at least the 1950s. They often also promise "detoxification" through colonics or enemas.
Diet Pills and Supplements
Dozens of diet supplements promise to speed weight loss. Generally, they claim either to block absorption of nutrients, increase metabolism, or burn fat.
Very Low-Calorie Diets (VLCDs)
These medically supervised diets often take place in a specialized setting away from temptation. (Sometimes these places are referred to as "fat farms.") For weeks, dieters eat only about half their daily calorie requirement. VLCDs are expensive, difficult -- and often effective.
Creams, Devices, and Magic Voodoo Spells
There seems to be no end to the ideas promoted in the name of rapid weight loss.
Most promise to replace diet or exercise. The FDA does not regulate over-the-counter weight loss products. Marketers make their claims freely, usually with no research or proof that their products work.
The only proven method of safe, rapid weight loss is the medically supervised very low-calorie diet (VLCD). Most of what is known about rapid weight loss comes from studies of people on these diets.
No other product, pill, or diet has been proven to work for fast weight loss.
The FDA-approved medicines Alli and Meridia can help, but they work slowly and only with diet and exercise.
In any rapid weight loss program, what really burns fat is not a pill or type of food.
It's the drastic reduction of calories, combined with exercise.
Many marketers promise "fast weight loss" it's difficult to sort through them all.
Most rapid weight loss fall into these categories:
Starvation Diets
Beyonce popularized the so-called "master cleanse" diet: water, lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper.
Variations of these diets have been around since at least the 1950s. They often also promise "detoxification" through colonics or enemas.
Diet Pills and Supplements
Dozens of diet supplements promise to speed weight loss. Generally, they claim either to block absorption of nutrients, increase metabolism, or burn fat.
Very Low-Calorie Diets (VLCDs)
These medically supervised diets often take place in a specialized setting away from temptation. (Sometimes these places are referred to as "fat farms.") For weeks, dieters eat only about half their daily calorie requirement. VLCDs are expensive, difficult -- and often effective.
Creams, Devices, and Magic Voodoo Spells
There seems to be no end to the ideas promoted in the name of rapid weight loss.
Most promise to replace diet or exercise. The FDA does not regulate over-the-counter weight loss products. Marketers make their claims freely, usually with no research or proof that their products work.
The only proven method of safe, rapid weight loss is the medically supervised very low-calorie diet (VLCD). Most of what is known about rapid weight loss comes from studies of people on these diets.
No other product, pill, or diet has been proven to work for fast weight loss.
The FDA-approved medicines Alli and Meridia can help, but they work slowly and only with diet and exercise.
In any rapid weight loss program, what really burns fat is not a pill or type of food.
It's the drastic reduction of calories, combined with exercise.