Eat like a caveman, or maybe a baby?
Everywhere you look some A-list star says 'keto is the new black', only eat Sirtfoods, or even better, do a detox. But do these celebs really know the best way to lose weight?
At the Anschutz Health & Wellness Center, they hear all the time about celebrity diets and tricks. They've done the baby food diet, atkins, the keto diet, and more. Dr. Holly Wyatt's patients have tried it all including the diet that supposedly had Pippa Middleton shedding for her wedding, the Sirtfoods diet.
The diet is popular because you can eat chocolate, and drink red wine, but you're only allowed to eat 20 foods rich in Sirtuin enzymes. It also restricts you to only a thousand calories for the first three days.
Dr. Wyatt usually doesn't recommend going under 1,200,
"There's nothing magic about the foods they're eating. It's the fact that they're only consuming 1,000 or less calories a day, that's why they're losing weight."
Same story with this internet sensation - the baby food diet. Some versions recommend eating 14 jars of baby food a day.
"Once again, short term. Who is going to eat baby food for a very long period of time?!" said Dr. Wyatt.
High-protein, low-carb paleo has had staying power for celebrities and crossfitters. While paleo offers a broader choice of foods, Coach Jake Humphrey says it's not for everyone,
"I think everything is just moderation, you know. To get kind of overwhelmed and super into and in your head about you're eating can lead to other problems."
And on the other end of the spectrum is the high-fat super popular keto diet, tried by everyone from Kim Kardashion to Tim Tebow. But doctors say like atkins, keto may work in the shortterm but it's hard to sustain.
Also, if you do the diet for a while, the long-term health effects of all that fat are a real concern.
Now to the queen of cleanses, Gwyneth Paltrow who heads a lifestyle empire called Goop.
"From a scientific perspective, I think there is a pretty clear consensus if you see detox on a product, it's likely bunk," said Timothy Caulfield a Health Law & Policy professor at the University of Alberta.
Caulfied actually tried her detox diet and said it was incredibly difficult and was three weeks of hell,
"Do you lose weight yeah you do. It's three weeks of calorie restrictions so I lost 7 pounds, did the weight immediately come on after I went off? Yes it did."
The reality he says it's a crash diet with extreme calorie restrictions and more and more researchers are concerned with the pseudoscience behind cleanses and other diets. Like the alkaline diet endorsed by stars like Kate Hudson. It's supposed to somehow change your body's ph, which is not possible.
Even if you don't believe these stars are diet experts researchers say on social media they're still a powerful testimonial.
"If you want to lose weight for a few weeks and gain it back, then have at it!" said Dr. Wyatt.
