Which diet is best for me? DailyMail.com weighs the pros and cons of seven top ... trends now
With the glutenous Thanksgiving break out of the way and New Year's resolutions around the corner, many Americans will be considering starting a new diet.
But deciding which type is best for you can be a minefield, especially when sites like TikTok appear to be churning out a new fad diet every few months.
Intermittent fasting has emerged as the most popular calorie restriction form in the past decade. It's almost impossible not to know someone who has shed at least some weight by eating within a strict time window or skipping meals entirely.
But while the weight-loss benefits are undeniable, the jury's out on the long-term effects. A study last week suggested that regularly missing meals can raise a person's risk of early death by 30 percent.
All-or-nothing types may veer towards extreme diets like the meat-only carnivore diet, which Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson have credits for weight loss and better brain health - while also saying it gave them intense diarrhea.
Tradeoffs exist for all diets and vary from person to person. Use our guide to work out which of the seven most popular is right for you:
DailyMail.com dug into seven popular fad diets to determine which is best. While diets like keto and carnivore can be great for weight loss, they also come with an increased risk of heart disease and other disease. There are many health benefits to going vegan - but it could also leave a person short on some crucial vitamins and minerals
Pros: Longer life, lower cancer risk
Cons: Calcium deficiency
Studies performed in the 1950s found that rates of heart disease were lower in countries like Italy, Greece and Spain than most countries in the west, which initially piqued the interest of scientists in the US.
Subsequent research confirmed that a diet rich in whole grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, olive oil and fish carries various health benefits.
Intermittent fasting – one of the most popular and promoted dieting techniques – may raise the risk of early death. A study of 24,000 Americans over 40 found those who ate one meal per day were 30 percent more likely to die from any cause in 15 years than those who ate three.
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Others meats like chicken and beef are limited. The sugary highly-processed deserts are replaced with fruits and the occasional piece of dark chocolate.
Healthy fats, lower sugars and no processed foods keep a person's arteries clear and healthy.
Pop star Selena Gomez says that the Mediterranean diet even 'saved her life' after she was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease lupus in 2012.
Charlie's Angels star Cameron Diaz, 50, credits the diet for her 'graceful' aging.
Doctors and nutritionists have sung the praises of it as well, with countless studies backing up claims that it can help fend off Alzheimer's, cancer, heart disease and expand a person's lifespan.
A Spanish research team described the diet as a 'gold standard' of preventative medicine in 2016 after a meta-analysis linked it to a higher quality of life and lower risk of chronic disease.
Researchers gathered data from 19 studies across 2015 and 2016 that found that people who eat these diets often have lower blood pressure, coronary artery disease, heart disease, and stroke rates.
In 2016, Italian researchers published a massive study that followed 1,712 people over 50 years to see how the diet would affect their lifespan.
They found that those who followed a standard Mediterranean diet the closest lived an average of 4.4 years longer than their peers.
Harvard University researchers were a part of a 2018 study finding that people who subscribed to the diet had biomarker indicators showing they were less likely to develop heart disease in the future.
Among the 26,000 participants, Mediterranean diet eaters had lower levels of inflammation, insulin resistance, hypertension and fats in the blood.
They also had a lower BMI on average.
A wealth of studies has tied the diet to lower cancer risks, and it can even be beneficial to a person after being diagnosed with the devastating disease.
World Health Organization researchers found in a 2010 study of 14,807 women that eating the diet could reduce breast cancer risk by up to 12 percent.
University of Texas researchers found last year men suffering from prostate cancer could stem the progression of the disease with a Mediterranean diet.
Popstar Selena Gomez (left) said that a Mediterranean diet helped her deal with lupus. Cameron Diaz (right) credits the Mediterranean diet for her graceful aging over the years
While the diet is packed full of many vitamins and minerals necessary for a person to live a long, healthy life, it does leave them short on calcium which is crucial to overall bone health.
Calcium is crucial to maintaining a strong skeleton, but the low amount of dairy products eaten daily can leave a person eating the southern European diet short of the mineral.
In a 2017 study, Spanish researchers found that only 25 percent of children aged six to excellent who ate the diet were reaching recommended levels of calcium intake for their age - potentially stunting their development.
An adult is recommended to consume 1,300mg of calcium every day. Calcium supplements can help fill this gap but are not considered to be as efficient as calcium derived from food.
This diet is also not for people whose plan is to solely lose weight, because the healthy and nutrient rich food can also be high in calories.
KetoPros: Weight loss, low blood sugar
Cons: Kidney damage, calcium deficiency
Ketogenic diets, also called keto, are a rising trend, with stars like Kim Kardashian, LeBron James and Megan Fox reportedly using them in the past for its quick weight loss.
The diet involves dropping nearly all carbohydrates and instead replacing them with foods rich in fat and protein.
The aim is to go into ketosis, a theory that states a person starts to use fat as their primary energy source rather than carbs.
The diet rose to prominence in the 1920s after early research found going keto could reduce the frequency of seizures in children who have epilepsy.
In a report earlier this year, experts wrote that they had seen rapid weight loss among patients who took part in keto diets. They said drops in water and fat retention were the reason why.
They warn that the benefits are only short lasting, though. Over a year, the weight loss will slow and nearly match the standard diet and exercise.
A 2018 meta-analysis by researchers from Canada confirmed this, finding that people who used keto only lost one extra pound over 24 months when compared to people on a standard low-fat diet.
Burning so much weight, combined with a high protein diet that often avoids refined sugars can also reduce a person's risk of developing diabetes.
A Chinese meta-analysis 13 studies found people who ate the low-carb diet had their resting blood glucose level drop by 1.29millimoles per liter (mmol/L).
The average non-diabetic has a resting blood glucose level of 3.9mmol/L to 5.6mmol/L. A level over 7mmol/L indicates that a person has diabetes.
Lebron James (left) and Kim Kardashian (right) both reportedly used the keto diet for weight loss
Earlier this year, researchers at Stanford University found mice that used the high-fat diet had more resistant muscle cells - making them more likely and faster to recover from injury.
As a result, this made mice on a diet live longer than their peers who ate their usual diet during the study. There is no research proving a similar effect in humans, though.
Keto does come with downsides. People who subscribe to the diet often suffer severe deficiencies of vitamins and minerals that are found in carb-rich fruits and vegetables that they avoid.
In a 2017 report, Dr Hannah Holscher, of the University of Illinois, wrote the shortage in fiber could harm the body's ability to absorb nutrients.
As a result, this can lead to inflammation and hurt immune function.
When transitioning from burning carbs as a primary energy source to entering ketosis - where fat is burned - a person may also suffer from 'keto flu'.
It is a temporary illness with symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, and stomach aches.
The sickness is relatively mild, but the National Institutes of Health (NIH) warns that some will not be able to tolerate it.
The NIH says that a lack of calcium in the diet can also lead to low bone density.
Keto can also be incredibly harsh on the kidneys. A Chinese study from last year found that rats that took part in the diet for only four weeks experienced significant declines in kidney function.
It harmed processes that help regulate blood pressure and regenerate damaged cells to repair damage to the organ.
Low-carb diets have also been tied to increased heart disease mortality.
A 2013 meta-analysis of 13 studies by Japanese researchers- including nearly 250,000 participants - found that people who ate the diets were 31 percent more likely to die of heart disease.
Intermittent fastingPros: Rapid weight loss, low cholesterol
Cons: Heart disease risk, low testosterone
Intermittent fasting is one of the most popular alternative diets, with tech moguls Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk singing its praises along with big-screen stars like Halle Berry and Hugh Jackman.
The diet sees a person limit their caloric intake to either certain hours or the day - or days of the week - to lose weight and control eating habits.
Popular iterations include the 14:10 plan - where a person eats only within a 10 hour window each day and the 16:8.
Proponents of the diet say the highly regulated eating times prevent snacking throughout the day, which can quickly increase a person's caloric intake without realizing it.
Others use alternative day fasting strategies, like the 4/3 or 5/2 diets.
In both plans, a person eats normally for four to five days per week, then severely restrict their food intake to 500 to 600 calories on the other two or three days.
Studies have proved that intermittent fasting is effective at helping a person lose weight and treat obesity.
A Canadian meta-analysis of 27 trials published in 2020 found that people who used the diet plans could lose up to 13 percent of their body weight without serious adverse effects.
Weight loss can often come with unexpected benefits as well.
Researchers at Salt Lake City, Utah's, Intermountain Medical Center published a meta-analysis of five studies in 2015 that found extra benefits.
In the group of studies, people who used intermittent fasting were less likely to develop coronary artery disease or diabetes.
For both, a drop in overall weight was cited as the reason for the decreased risk.
Tech mogul Elon Mush (left) used intermittent fasting to assist his weight loss. Halle Berry (right) has said that intermittent fasting helps her stay in shape
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