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Fad Diet And Obesity Rate

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Fad Critique Diet

With obesity rate still on the rise, many people are resorting to dieting to help them lose weights. This resulted in an increase in the number of diet plans. However if dieting actually worked, there should be a decrease in obesity rate, but we can see that this is not the case. In 2014, more than two-third of the adult population is obese in the United States (Ogden, 2014). One of the reasons why dieting does not work is because most diets are fad diets. A fad diet is a weight loss plan that promises dramatic results, but these diet plans typically does not help people sustain the weight lost and are often very unhealthy (Family Doctor). One popular diet plan is the Atkins diet, which was popularized by cardiologist Robert C. Atkins. The Atkins diet focuses on restricting carbohydrate while emphasizing on proteins and fats. Despite the popularity of the Atkins diet, studies have shown that the diet does not help people lose weight and can cause harmful side effects for the body in the long run. In 1972, Dr. Atkins promoted his Diet Revolution book where he suggested that by limiting intake of carbohydrates it would help with weight management and lower the rates of obesity and chronic diseases like diabetes. Dr. Atkins came up with the diet in 1963 when he wanted to lose weight himself, but he knew that he would not be able to follow a traditional low-calories or low-fat diet. Instead, he followed a low-carbohydrate diet that he read on the American

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