Healthy Resolutions: The Five Extreme Diets You Should AVOID This New Year

The New Year is just around the corner… and we have our resolution lists at the ready.

Well, ours remains blank but we’ll make sure we’ll fill it out before January 1^st…

One of the most common resolutions is to lose weight.

This should involve healthy food, regular exercise and an improved wellbeing. Instead, people want quick results and get tied up in some of the most dangerous fad diets.

One such diet recommends sitting in a cold bath after drinking black coffee, while another involves being fed through an intravenous drip. These sounds ridiculous as we read them now, but the sad thing is some people will be so desperate to shed the Christmas pounds that they will try some of these health shock diets.

Dieticians have warned that there really is ‘no quick fix’ to a slim, trim body for 2013 and said that following celebrity fads could lead to health problems.

Stay safe. Here are the top five celebrity fad diets that experts have warned should be AVOIDED in the New Year.

Party Girl IV Drip

What is it? A cocktail of vitamins B and C, magnesium and calcium is fed into the body via an intravenous drip. It claims to provide an energy boost for people who are run down. Rihanna and Simon Cowell are fans.

The Verdict: This carries side effects such as dizziness, infection, inflammation of veins and, in some cases, anaphylactic shock.

Rihanna tweeted this shocking photo of herself hooked up to a drip.

The KEN Diet (The Ketogenic Enteral Nutrition Diet)

What is it? For ten days a liquid formula of protein and nutrients is pumped directly into the stomach via a plastic tube that goes up the patient’s nose. Said to be a new favourite amongst models, KEN sends the body into controlled starvation, forcing it to use its own fat for energy. You are attached to a portable pump and liquid bag for ten days and can unhook yourself for only 60 minutes every 24 hours.

The Verdict: It is shocking to us alone that someone would choose to lie there with a tube up their nose to lose weight! One of the side-effects is a lack of fibre, which means you have to take laxatives. How is this attractive to anyone in any way…

Dukan Diet

What is it? This is a four-phase diet that starts off with no carbohydrates or protein. This lasts for ten days. Carole Middleton, Jennifer Lopez and Katherine Jenkins are all said to be fans.

The Verdict: There is little science behind this. Cutting out food groups is not advisable and, in the long term, could lead to some serious health problems. Other problems would include a lack of energy, constipation and bad breath.

Katherine Jenkins is said to be a fan of the Dukan diet...

Alcorexia/ Drunkorexia Diet

What is it? Diet doers have to severely cut their calories during the week so they can ‘bank up’ their calories to drink alcohol and party at the weekends.

The Verdict: You don’t get the correct amount of calories, vitamins and nutrients your body needs to function. Alcohol has little nutrition other than calories, which means this diet could result in alcohol poisoning or death.

The Six Weeks To OMG Diet

What is it? Exercise first thing in the morning after drinking black coffee. You should not eat for three hours after that so the body burns fat to stay warm. Sitting in a cold bath also works, it says. Fruit should be avoided.

The Verdict: We are saying ‘OMG’ for a completely different reason here. Many people’s daily routine would not accommodate this mad diet. A healthy breakfast is always encouraged and we don’t have to tell you that sitting in a cold bath is absolute madness either…