|  | Diet Nutrition | Healthy Diets

Weird Diets

Obesity is a serious health problem in the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), between 2007 and 2008, about 72.5 million adults in the United States were obese. As a result, obesity is now recognized as a national health threat and a major public health challenge. To get rid of excess weight, or simply to assume a glamorous persona, Americans are trying every diet, some of which border on weirdness.

  1. The Cabbage Soup Diet

    • This is based on a fat-burning soup you make from green onions, green peppers, tomatoes, carrots, mushroom, celery and a half head of cabbage. The cocktail is seasoned to taste with salt, pepper, parsley, curry, garlic powder, or beef or chicken bouillon cubes. You put all this in one pot, cover and cook on low heat for about two hours. Despite all these ingredients, the soup still contains a negligible amount of calories. This is a seven-day diet plan during which you must only feed on the cabbage soup and water, in an addition to a restricted set of other foods such as fruits and skimmed milk. How much soup you drink is up to you. You can lose between 10 and 15 lbs. per week, according to aboutcabbagesoupdiet.com. While this is one of the most common weird diets, its origin is unknown.

    Raw Food Diet

    • The food in this type of diet can only be heated below 116 degrees. Raw foodism, or rawism, is a vegan diet in which a dieter believes such food provides greater intake of energy than cooked food. The diet is based on the premise that cooking eliminates enzymes from foods. The American Dietetic Association has challenged that assertion. Scientists say the body produces many enzymes on its own to help with digestion and the absorption of foods. According to WebMD, literature on the efficacy of raw food diet is scant because research tends to focus on the benefits of vegetarianism and plant-based diets instead of raw food.

    Breatharian Diet

    • This diet, also known as Inedia, is one of the most weird. The Breatharian Diet is a spiritual concept tracing its origin from eastern aestheticism or Hinduism that asserts that you can survive entirely on air and perhaps some sunlight. Although this diet is founded on the premise of survival without food, most Breatharians do eat sometimes. Australian Ellen Greve has become the face of the Breatharian Diet, otherwise known as pranic nourishment. Born in 1957, Greeve, who goes by the name of Jasmuheen, claims to have not eaten real food since 1993. Challenged to demonstrate how she could live without water by an Australian television channel, "Greve displayed the physical symptoms of acute dehydration, stress and high blood pressure," according to Biographicon.

    Tapeworm Diet

    • This is an extreme diet banned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States. A tapeworm is introduced in your stomach. The worm attaches suckers to your body and feeds on the food you consume. The idea is to split the amount of food you consume and prevent the body from building fat. The tapeworm also secretes proteins into your intestinal tract, rendering the digestion of your food inefficient, according to Diet in Review. Because of inefficiency in digestion, the guest in the stomach will have enough food to feed on. Although it is still used, this kind of diet is illegal in the U.S. It is also not good for your health. Tapeworms can cause their hosts malnutrition, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, anemia, and the formation of cysts.

Healthy Diets - Related Articles