Five Weight-Loss Diets That Work

With so many health fads and diet tricks to try and lose weight and improve overall health, it’s hard to know which ones to try. While some may seem ridiculous and just plain unpleasant (I’m looking at you, oil pulling), they can actually supply you with benefits you never knew were possible.

Over the years, people have tried all kinds of crazy and harmful diets. Many of the dangerous diets of the past caused serious harm to women’s bodies. But don’t let that scare you off. Just because a health trend sounds silly or tough, doesn’t mean it won’t work wonders. But it’s super important to know which ones are healthy, and which are a dangerous gimmick.

Read on for our list of the five best diets and trends that will help you lose weight the healthy way. Just to keep it balanced, I not only did a ton of research, but also tried all of the diets, so I could give you the real upsides and downsides. If you try any of them, please let me know in the comments below…

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Teatoxes

The tea detox, or teatox, business is booming! With celebrities and fitness gurus on the teatox bandwagon, the fitness fad has made its way to the forefront of new weight loss methods. These herbal teas boast many benefits such as boosted metabolism, overall wellbeing, weight loss and eliminated bloating.

How does it work?

You take one morning tea and one night time tea, every-other night (regardless of what the package says, don’t take the night/detox tea daily). There is also a specific eating plan to stick to while teatoxing. This usually includes resisting meat, dairy and alcohol for the duration of the cleanse, as these can reduce the effectiveness of the teatox.

The morning tea curbs your sweet cravings, provides more energy to workout, boosts metabolism and detoxes the body. The night time one contains senna leaf, which has a laxative effect. This helps to clean you out and eliminate any bloating or added weight attributed to excess waste in your intestinal tract.

When your body is not cleansed, foods like meat lingering in your GI tract can putrefy and release toxins into the blood. The senna leaf will eliminate this harmful excess waste, resulting in better health and wellbeing.

Popular brands include Bootea, Tiny Teatox and Skinny Lyfe Tea. Look for organic teas and always drink out of glass, ceramic, or stainless steel (but never, ever plastic).

What’s the downside?

You should only teatox for a maximum of two weeks, and only every-other night. Senna, a herb that’s in colon cleanser tea bags and other diet tea products, has a strong laxative effect and it can cause headaches, diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration. In the long-term it can make the bowel reliant on this kind of stimulation to work, especially if you take it daily during your teatox.

Keep in mind that the cleansing effect means that it may interfere with the absorption of other medications and supplements you’re taking (ie. your birth control). Not to mention, doing a teatox any longer than two weeks can cause nutritional deficiencies, electrolyte shortage and lead to heart problems (yikes!)

Plant-Based Diet

People are switching to a plant-based (vegan) diet for a litany of reasons, including:

#1: plant-based diets are helping to save animals, water, and the environment,
#2: there are many studies that show how a low-sugar, plant-based diet can reverse most diseases and chronic illnesses,
#3: assuming you also cut down on sugar, it’s super-effective for losing weight and being healthy overall.

Rumor got around that a plant-based diet promotes weight loss, which is apparently what’s responsible for Miley Cyrus’ slim-down. Michelle Pfeiffer also recently admitted to us that she attributes her youthful looks to her vegan diet. A long list of other A-listers have also been speaking out about the benefits of a vegan diet, including having more energy, clear skin, and healthier-looking bod overall.

How does it work?

It’s simple — just cut all animal protein out of your diet. Basically, if it came from someone with parents, don’t eat it. That means no dairy, meat or fish. On the upside, there are loads of great dairy substitutes nowadays, like pea, flax, cashew, coconut or almond milk, ice cream and yogurt. Try them all to find the one you like best! Be sure to take a B12 supplement (I love MegaFoods vegan B12).

Because of the huge demand for vegan restaurants, there are now lots to choose from (although you’ll likely have to book in advance since they’re so popular). Download the Happy Cow app to find ones near you, no matter where you are. You can also sign up to a plant-based, organic meal delivery service, like one of these.

What’s the downside?

Coming from someone who used to be addicted to brie cheese (even though it gave me breakouts), it’s not easy to cut foods out of your diet — especially not this many. As Michelle Pfeiffer suggests, take it slow and cut out one things at a time. Be forewarned that when you switch to an easier-to-digest diet, you may find that you have excessive gas or loose stool for a while as your body cleans out all the rotting, undigested meat from your colon (gross, I know!) Once it’s all cleared out, you’ll feel like a new person, but it could take up to three months for your body to adjust to your new, healthier way of eating.

Oil Pulling

An ancient Ayurvedic remedy, oil pulling has become a widespread alternative for teeth brushing. Celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow swear by this method for oral health, teeth whitening, detoxification, weight loss, and pain relief. It is even said to relieve migraines, reduce inflammation, prevent insomnia, support kidney function, reduce allergies, correct hormone imbalances, reduce allergies and cure hangovers!

Oil pulling could theoretically reduce the fluid retention and bloating that contribute to feelings of puffiness and lead to a loss of a few extra pounds on the scale. Coconut oil contains medium-chain triglycerides, which, when included as part of your diet, may help diminish your appetite so you eat fewer calories and lose weight, reported a paper published in a 2013 issue of Nutrition Review. Supplementing a reduced-calorie diet with coconut oil helped reduce belly fat in premenopausal women, according to a small study published in Lipids in 2009.

How does it work?

The process involves swishing coconut oil (which is antibacterial) in the mouth for about 20 minutes, until it thickens, followed by spitting it out along with all of the toxins and bacteria it has collected. Oil pulling gets your mouth squeaky clean and kills the bad bacteria in your mouth. When your oral health is immaculate, your body can put its energy toward healing other things and thus making you look and feel better.

“When we improve our oral health, we improve so many other things in our body. Everything is connected” says Dr. Sanda Moldovan, a Beverly Hills periodontist and nutritionist. She also claims that “people with bad oral hygiene have a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease and strokes.”

If your body isn’t trying to constantly fight the bacteria in your mouth, it can function more efficiently and keep your organs in check. Not to mention, the bad bacteria in your mouth can migrate to your organs, causing a whole host of serious health issues.

What’s the downside?

Don’t expect to lose a lot of weight from oil pulling, unless you combine it with some of the other diets in this list. For best results, you must swish the oil in your mouth for 20 minutes every day, morning and night. This can be difficult to fit into your morning routine, and certainly isn’t the most convenient when you’re exhausted before bed. Additionally, doing it too vigorously can result in jaw soreness. If you can commit to 20 minutes of oil pulling a day, use it as a substitute for mouthwash (and remember that store-bought mouthwash can have detrimental health effects). Replacing teeth-brushing altogether with this isn’t a good idea though. 😉

Juicing

Juicing offers the ability to meet your fruit and vegetable quota on the go blended up in a drinkable, vitamin-rich juice. You can either blend your own juices at home or buy pre-made pressed ones at the store. Popular store-bought juices include brands like BluePrint Juice and Pure Green.

How does it work?

The juicing diet is more of a cleanse, but can also be used supplementally, just to get more fruits and vegetables into your diet. It’s helpful in that you can mask a juice containing highly nutritious but less favorable veggies like kale, with the sweet taste of fruit mixed in. The cleanse version requires drinking nothing but fruit and vegetable juice, sometimes with added superfoods like chia seeds or spirulina. This cleanse is done for up to a week, and is supposed to provide essential vitamins and nutrients in a convenient, low-calorie way. A juice cleanse is typically done when trying to shed a small amount of weight in a short period of time.

What’s the downside?

Although juicing is convenient, is it just as healthy as eating whole fruits and vegetables? Experts say no. “You should still eat whole fruits and vegetables” says registered dietician Manuel Villacorta. When you juice, none of the skin or pulp of the fruit gets included, which is where the true nutrients lie. Not to mention consuming the fruit in an expedited way can result in a sugar spike because you’ve removed the fiber.

Gluten-Free Dieting

It seems “gluten free” is on the packaging of every food item on the shelves these days, but few people really know what it is. Gluten is a mixture of two proteins found in wheat that are responsible for the elastic texture of dough. Ingesting it causes a litany of health problems, especially in those who suffer from Celiac disease. So why are non-celiac sufferers ditching wheat? For starters, gluten-free converts say it clears up brain fog, helped their digestion, prevents insomnia and night sweats, and helps them to feel better overall.

How does it work?

Ever heard of the term “bread butt”? When you eat bread, pasta and gluteny sweets, your body converts it to sugar. So you may as well be eating dessert. Yup, not healthy at all.

Not to mention that the effort it takes to cut out foods containing gluten promotes healthier eating in general. Even if you’re not gluten-sensitive or a Celiac sufferer, you can reap the benefits of cutting out gluten from your meals. A gluten-free diet calls for more veggies (a great source of fiber apart from wheat). Focusing on these healthier options will result in weight-loss, not to mention decreased bloating as well.

What’s the downside?

Resisting things like bread, pasta and cupcakes is torture difficult. And gluten is in a ton of those unhealthy processed comfort-foods we all (used to) love — including beer (gasp!) Additionally, the gluten-free processed foods at the supermarket are loaded with sugar and starches. Eating these substitutes in an attempt to be healthier can actually result in weight-gain. Watching what you eat and focusing on fruits, vegetables, beans and seeds (like quinoa) is a much easier (and better tasting!) way to get a flat tummy.

All of the aforementioned diets have genuine benefits to them. Personally, I eat a low-sugar, vegan and mostly gluten-free diet and I’ve never felt healthier. I have a good friend who was never able to sleep more than four hours a night until he tried oil pulling. Now, he sleeps like a baby for a solid eight hours a night. Whether you invest in a pre-made teatox or not, simply drinking hot tea with your meals improves digestion and can save you from bloating and discomfort. And if you can resist bread at the dinner table, a gluten-free diet is a great way to look and feel amazing. Find what works for you and commit to it! There are no downsides to a healthy lifestyle.