Wednesday, July 25, 2012

For better or for worse: health fads with staying power

Health, diet and fitness trends (let's call them fads) have various life cycles. Some are here today, gone day after tomorrow. Others stick around for years, even decades.
What follows is a guest posting of sorts -- an article sent to me by a writer from www.onlineclasses.org, about ideas about fitness that just won't go away.
As you can see, some of these ideas (vibrating belts, "cleansing") have dubious value, at best. Others (exercise, portion control) have withstood the test of time for good reason.
Of the list below, the truly discredited fads would include vibrating belts -- they will not make you lose weight or reduce your stomach fat! -- and cleansing/juicing.(Click here to read why cleansing is a terrible idea.)
Diet pills and plastic surgery (such as liposuction) are also not the best ways to control your weight or live a healthy life.

To read the entire article about the good and bad health fads of recent times, click here.


9 Health and Fitness Fads That Stuck Around
Everyone wants to shed a few pounds, and most people do so during several phases of life. Health and fitness fads will, by nature, come and go, but a few of them stand the test of time. Diet supplements have been used to regulate weight as far back as ancient Egypt, Greece, and China. Portion control was practiced by ancient cultures, as well. If you’re always trying the Next Big Thing, here are nine health and fitness fads that came and stayed. Some we love, some we hate, but one thing’s for sure — these nine fads are older than you.


1, Counting calories


2. Plastic surgery


3. Exercising


4. Portion-controlled meals


5. Vibrating belts


6. Working out at home


7. Very low-calories diets


8. Diet pills


9. Cleansing and juicing


For real?

2 comments:

  1. And what are the fads we should aviod?

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  2. I would have to say that "cleansing" has been discredited, and the idea that a vibrating belt could possibly be of any value is totally bogus. Diet pills generally are a bad idea -- side effects are worse than the benefits from a reduced appetite -- and plastic surgery (such as liposuction) would also be something that I'd avoid. Thanks for asking, though -- I'll add something like this to the post.

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