Amazing Diets

Diets have been around since at least the 18th century, when Dr. Malcolm Flemyng advised his patients eat soap to lose weight. Over the years, many other diets have developed, ranging from the simple to the complicated. Each diet offers its own benefits and drawbacks, some of which are dangerous. Dieters have indeed turned to some pretty amazing diets in their quest to lose weight.

Fad Diets

• Every year it seems like new fad diets hit the news. These diets are often pushed in diet books, on television and by celebrities. The reality star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi turned to a Cookie Diet to lose weight in 2010. This diet allowed her six small special recipe cookies and one meal daily.

  Other fad diets have reached a cult like status including the Atkins diet, the Subway Diet and the Taco Bell diet. Atkins caused some concern among doctors who felt it dangerous to people's health, with too much fat and cholesterol and not enough vegetables. Subway and Taco Bell both consist of eating only at those restaurants and only from a certain portion of the menu to lose weight.

Liquid Diets

• Many like the liquid diets for their quick weight loss results, and several variations of this method exist. The Detox Diet claims to not only help you lose weight fast, but also to detox the system. Dieters often drink only liquids, sometimes ginger tea with honey, water with lemon juice or even apple cider vinegar, over the course of three days to a week. The Master Cleanse Diet consists of a concoction made up of only lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper.

  Less drastic are the Cabbage Soup Diet and the Soup Diet. Both allow the dieter to have two small meals a day, plus a meal of soup. The Cabbage Soup Diet allows dieters to have as much soup as they want throughout the day to help stay full. The Soup Diet limits dieters to soup for their evening meal, but it's a different kind of soup each night for variety.

  The Water Diet is a method of losing weight where the dieter simply drinks at least 64 ounces of cold water daily, in addition to their normal diet. The water must also be drunk at specific times during the day.

Lifestyle Diets

• The diets people take on as a part of their ongoing lives are also quite amazing. Veganism is the practice of eating only plant products, no meat, no meat by-products and no dairy. This diet requires strict attention to what is eaten as some plant foods are processed using animal by-products and processed foods contain "hidden animal ingredients." Macrobiotic diets are similar to a vegetarian diet, but allow for some fish and feature a spiritual focus on attaining balance. This diet originated in Japan and grew popular in America. The Blood-type diet follows the idea that people with different blood types need different foods for optimal health. For example, someone with Type B blood should avoid chicken as it contains agglutinating lectin, which the diet's founder Dr. Peter D'Adamo states can lead to stroke and immune disorders.

Dangerous Diets

• Some diets cross the line into dangerous territory. The Atkins Diet is risky as it tends to lead dieters to high-fat foods capable of causing heart disease and leading to further obesity. The Air Diet was featured in a French magazine, as a joke which many felt seemed too serious. It advocated pretending to eat, and eating only water soup with hot water and salt as the only ingredients. Other diets are serious and even more dangerous. Starvation diets are very risky, consisting of only 700 to 800 calories a day, and some people stay on them for months, leading to poor nutrition, low-blood sugar and muscle loss.