Summer is approaching, and many people are eager to travel, spend time in the sun, relax, refresh, and have fun! However, unrealistic societal expectations cause individuals to engage in fad diets and excessive exercise to have the “perfect” body for vacation on the beach. As such, individuals only realize the full dangers of fad diets once they actively become dissatisfied with their bodies and have a disordered relationship with food.
What Are Fad Diets?
Fad diets have become a dangerous phenomenon, typically associated with the toxicity of diet culture. However, for starters, what are fad diets? Fad diets are dietary plans that claim individuals can “lose weight fast.” According to Alyssa Northrop from Forbes Health, research has shown that fad diets have several characteristics: “a promise of rapid weight loss, a lack of physical activity guidelines, nutritional inadequacy, and a lack of scientific evidence to support claims” (Northrop, 2024). There are various forms of fad diets, such as cabbage soup, keto, high fiber, no-carbohydrate, and South Beach, among other harmful fads. Besides fad diets, intermittent fasting makes individuals reduce the amount of food they consume throughout the day, restricting their calorie intake.
Fad Diets and Social Media
Because of the popularity of social media, college students become exposed to influencers who promote the toxicity of diet culture by sharing fad diets, juice cleanses, and other products that actively promise to lose weight faster. In an article written by Courtney Johnson for Huff Post, she describes the allure surrounding juice cleanses and how they attract college students towards using them as a weight loss tool. “In a proper juice cleanse, a person drinks the juice extracted from fruits, vegetables and herbs for about three days. The idea is to completely rid the body of toxins and poisons by eliminating any and all things that would have any toxins or preservatives in it” (Johnson, 2012). While juice cleanses and other fad diet variations have increased in popularity over the years, there is evidence that there are better ways to gain proper nutrients and that people lose weight too fast.
Diet Culture and College
With all this information in mind, we can now see how college students would want to use fad diets to their advantage before going on a planned trip with their family or friends. However, one’s diet can change when attending school due to being in a new environment.
