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The Top Four Celebrity Fad Diets

There’s no denying it – celebrities look good. And no wonder; with a daily routine of fitness trainers, nutrition coaches and perhaps a personal chef, the fab and famous have easy access to the resources they need to get big arms, flat stomachs, and serious athletic endurance. For the rest of us, it’s a bit more difficult.

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Fad diets provide the opportunity to emulate a celebrity; even if that means eating grapefruit for every meal. Following is a list of the top four celebrity fad diets.

The Paleo Diet
The earth’s Paleolithic period occurred 2 million years ago. What’s that got to do with dieting today? Quite a lot, according to followers of the Paleo eating plan. Beloved by dieters around the world, including top celebrities such as Megan Fox and Uma Thurman, the Paleo Diet advises an eating plan based on what our Stone Age ancestors would have consumed – free range meat, seafood, fresh fruit and vegetables, eggs, nuts and seeds, and healthy oils.

The Paleo Diet is based on the premise that our modern eating habits don’t make sense when considering that the human body evolved ingesting very different food; Paleo fans argue that our modern intake of too much dairy, cereal grains, processed food and salt has led to widespread obesity and disease. With the Paleo Diet, however, eaters can enjoy more protein, fewer carbohydrates, and achieve a bodily balance proven beneficial by history.

Paleo dieters enjoy the opportunity to feel full and energetic while getting healthy, thanks to protein-rich staple Paleo foods like meat, eggs and seafood. However, dieters must be vigilant in order to get essential vitamins and minerals. Without any dairy at mealtimes, some Paleo dieters take calcium supplements or make an effort to eat foods rich in calcium, such as collard greens. Another criticism of the Paleo Diet is that it is just too hard to maintain – no bread, rice or pasta, ever? The strict rules of this diet may decrease its ability to be a part of a long term, healthy lifestyle.
The Baby Food Diet
Yes, you read that right: baby food. And why not? Baby food is the ultimate, portion controlled meal; it may taste like mush, but it’s also formulated to deliver vitamins, protein, and all the other nutritional musts that parents look for in a food to feed their child. Developed by fitness guru Tracy Anderson, celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston and Cheryl Cole have reportedly tried the diet, replacing daytime meals with 14 servings of baby food, then eating a balanced, grown-up meal for dinner.

Because it is produced for the delicate stomachs of newborns, baby food tends to be low in salt and sugar, and contain few preservatives. An added bonus is the fact that baby food is full of fruit and vegetables, balanced in terms of protein and carbohydrates, and likely to be low in fat. The major disadvantage to a baby food diet is the intestinal distress that may accompany the consumption of mashed food 14 times per day; not to mention the impossibility of eating out or maintaining a normal meal schedule while continuously consuming baby food.

 

The Raw Food Diet
Known by some as a movement rather than a diet, the raw food eating plan is simple – eat whatever you like, as long as it hasn’t been cooked above 118 degrees Fahrenheit (47 degrees Celsius). That means no bread, no sausage, and no cheddar cheese. In fact, just about everything pre-packaged or processed has been cooked in some form, and so the raw food diet relies heavily upon fresh fruit and vegetables and at-home preparation of meals. Natalie Portman, David Bowie and Donna Karen are just a few of the celebrities known for their interest in the raw foods movement.

Raw foods devotees point out that keeping foods uncooked maintains their natural enzymes, giving eaters more vitamins and nutrients; researchers have also found links between a raw food diet and lower cholesterol, more vitamin A, and of course weight loss. Because raw food eaters often adopt a vegan diet as well, they may see increased nutrition and a lower body mass index due to cutting out animal products and focusing on a variety of fruits, vegetables and legumes.

Like vegans and vegetarians, however, raw foodists must be careful to consume enough iron, calcium, and vitamin B12. The weight loss that accompanies a raw food diet can often be drastic, and experts therefore recommend investing in well-researched raw foods literature before starting a raw eating plan, in order to learn new food preparation techniques and understand the essentials of balanced nutrition through raw foods.
The Macrobiotic Diet
The macrobiotic diet, espoused by celebrities like Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow, emphasizes more than just food. This diet is concerned with spiritual practice, yin and yang, and living and eating in harmony with nature. At meal times, this macrobiotic philosophy advisers eaters to choose whole grains, fresh vegetables, miso and bean soups, and sea vegetables. The macrobiotic diet is pesco-vegetarian, meaning that fish and seafood are the only meat products allowed.

Madonna’s fantastic fitness at age 53 is often attributed to a personal chef who keeps the pop star on a macrobiotic diet. Because the macrobiotic philosophy is also based on maintaining digestive health through ingesting healthy bacteria, Madonna and other followers of the diet will eat good amounts of fermented products such as the soybean based tempeh. Mayumi Nishimura, Madonna’s personal chef, has said that the macrobiotic diet can improve the immune system and make dieters feel more energetic.

As the macrobiotic plan is more a lifestyle choice than a traditional diet, nutritionists generally have positive comments on the macrobiotic diet; however, as when eliminating any major food group such as meat, dieters must be vigilant about getting protein and iron from other food sources.