A total of 230 Australian members of Australia’s top nutrition body recently took part in an online survey to uncover the diets to avoid for 2013.
The Lemon Detox Diet was rated the worst, followed by the Acid and Alkaline Diet. The Six Weeks to OMG Diet rounded off the top three.
Lemon by a landslide
Out of a list of nine popular diets, DAA members named the Lemon Detox Diet as the the worst for the second consecutive year, with almost three-quarters of the dietitians voting for it.
The Acid and Alkaline Diet and The Six Weeks to OMG Diet attracted votes from 42% and 40% of nutrition experts respectively.
DAA spokesperson Melanie McGrice said she hoped these findings will stop Australians, particularly young women, from trying the endless array of fad diets promoted every January.
Last week, FoodNavigator-Asia reported how young Australian women have been struggling to keep weight off as a result of poor eating after a poll revealed that as many in the demographic were looking to lose weight in 2013 as they had the previous year.
“Don’t put your health in the hands of celebrities-endorsed diets or products that make miraculous weight and fat-loss claims. Like many things in life, good health takes perseverance and commitment to a healthy lifestyle,” said McGrice.
Advocates of the Lemon Detox Diet live off a mixture of lemon juice, water, cayenne pepper and syrup, while the Alkaline diet focuses on fruit, vegetable and legumes to counter the body’s acidity levels.
Newcomer named
The Six Weeks to OMG Diet, meanwhile, is a fashion diet doing the rounds across the world that combines exercise with dieting and long periods of fasting.
As a newcomer for 2012, the later diet makes its first appearance in the top three, while the other two remain there from last year’s poll.
"Women often think they are failures when they can't sustain such strict and unrealistic diets," DAA spokesman Trent Watson said.
"The truth is, it is the diets that are failing young women."
Have your say: Have you adopted any of these diets? If so, how has your experience been? Do you believe fad diets work, or that there is no substitute for healthy eating and exercise? Let us know in the comments below.