3 Celebrity Diets To Avoid In 2019

The British Dietetic Association has asked their dietetic experts to identify the wildest diet fads they’ve come across last year to help you avoid them in 2019.

Blood Type Diets

Hayley Baldwin is reportedly a fan of this diet, which is based completely on pseudo-science. It claims that foods are tolerated and broken down differently in the body depending on a person’s blood type. For example, people with type A should avoid dairy products, and type O’s should eat lots of protein but no wheat. The BDA verdict? “Makes our blood boil!”

People lose weight on this diet because one way or another it’s restricting what they eat.].

Dietitian Sian Porter says, “This hard-to-follow diet can be restrictive, expensive and socially isolating. Cutting out food groups is never a good idea (unless advised to do so by a doctor or dietitian), and careful substitutions need to be made to keep your diet in balance. For example, cutting out dairy can reduce calcium intake so other sources of calcium need to be increased or included. Any diet plan that includes special supplements should set off alarm bells.”

Detox Teas / Skinny Coffee

Cardi B, Kim Kardashian, and Khloe Kardashian have all claimed their weight loss/maintenance is down to one of these products.

You’ve probably already seen them promoted all over social media by a slim, attractive celebrity or wellness blogger who claims that if you drink this you will lose weight and look like them. They are drinks, usually teas or coffees, marketed at helping you to lose weight or “detox” your body.

The BDA verdict? “Tea-rifying.” No magic drink is going to help you achieve or maintain a healthy weight.

According to dietitian Chloe Hall, “Most of these drinks contain herbs that have very little evidence of promoting weight loss. The worst-case scenario is that you’re going to end up spending a lot of time in the bathroom. Some of these teas contain Senna, which is a laxative. This can leave you with stomach cramps and diarrhoea. Long-term laxative abuse is dangerous and can leave you with ongoing gut issues.”

Some of these products also contain caffeine which, when drunk in large quantities, can leave people feeling anxious, shaky and with heart palpitations.

Alkaline Water

Many big names are reported to be fans of alkaline water, including Donald Trump, Barak Obama, Beyonce, Bill Gates, Madonna, Robert Downey Jr., and many others. 

Alkaline water has a higher pH level than regular drinking water as it contains alkalising compounds, including calcium, silica, potassium, magnesium, and bicarbonate. Because of this, some people believe that alkaline water helps our bodies metabolise nutrients and expel toxins more efficiently than regular tap water, leading to better health and performance.

Normal drinking water generally has a neutral pH of 7. Alkaline water typically claims to have a pH of 8 or 9.

BDA verdict? “H2NO!” While drinking more water is a good thing for your overall health and hydration, don’t waste your money on expensive water when it’s something you can get free out of a tap. 

Your body is usually perfectly capable of regulating pH itself, and there’s no need to tamper with this. pH varies significantly in different parts of the body. For example, the stomach is very acidic in order to help digest food, the intestines then neutralize this acidity when food and drink pass into them.

Interestingly, when some alkaline waters have been tested with pH strips the pH is in-fact 7.0 (7.5 at a push). All a marketing ploy perhaps?