Are Food-Specific Diets, Such As The Cabbage Soup Diet, The Lemonade Diet, The Grapefruit Diet, Work?

February 1, 2009 -- Question: Are food-specific diets, such as the cabbage soup diet, the lemonade diet, the grapefruit diet, effective in reducing weight?

Answer: Well, certainly they can be very effective in reducing weight. But there's no research to back that up. They don't provide for adequate nutrition. They're likely not to have adequate protein, adequate fat, vitamins, mineral, fibers -- those things may not be present in the amounts that your body actually needs. And so while the weight may drop off quickly over a short period of time, these are not diets that you would want to adopt as a lifestyle. You would still need to learn how to adapt your diet to a healthy eating program that you could use for the rest of your life.