Before choosing the weight loss diet most suitable for your personal needs and wants, it is important to evaluate each of the recommended choices. Keep in mind that just because a diet is popular among your family and friends as well as in the media does not necessarily mean that it’s also the best one for you. Ask questions related to the diet plan’s composition, proponents, risks and results, among other things, mainly because an informed decision is always better than one based on ignorance.

Also, it is easy to lose weight by restricting the number of calories consumed in the diet but the results are often on a short-term basis only. For permanent weight loss to be achieved, it is critical that the healthy changes in the diet, exercise and lifestyle habits are adopted for life.

Fad Diets

Fast weight loss diet with the use of supplements, creams and patches designed to burn fat, suppress the appetite and promote metabolism is the promise of fad diets. The results are almost always in the short-term as the weight is regained once the diet is stopped. Most fad diets don’t recommend changing your diet and exercise habits for as long as the products are used.

Glycemic Index Diets

The glycemic index diets are obviously based on the glycemic index used in controlling diabetes. The premise is that controlling blood sugar levels will lead to weight loss mainly because hunger pangs are lessened while the body burns calories faster, too. These diets include the Zone, Sugar Busters and Nutrisystem programs.

Low Calorie Diets

One of the pillars of weight loss is calorie restriction. Many diet plans take it to the extreme by drastically cutting daily caloric intake from a healthy 1,500 to 2,000 calories per day to just 400 to 800 calories daily. In a few special cases like morbid obesity, these diets have their purpose but only under close medical supervision to avoid health complications. Examples of these diets are the Medifast and Optifast.

Low Carbohydrate Diets

The popular Atkins and South Beach diets are the best examples of low-carbohydrate diets, which obviously limit the carbohydrate quantity consumed per day. The amount itself varies from one diet plan to the next with a few going as low as 10% daily. To offset the low carbohydrate amount in the diet, higher levels of proteins and fats are provided – a potential takeoff point for health problems.

Low Fat Diets

The Ornish diet is the foremost example of the many low-fat diets today. The rationale is that large fat intakes equal to fast weight gain that can lead to obesity. However, even a low-fat diet can lead to weight gain when the total daily calorie count is high, not to mention the fact that the body needs fat for normal cellular functions.

Meal Replacement Diets

Slim-Fast, Seattle Sutton and Jenny Craig – these are just a few examples of the meal replacement diets where the proponents supply most, if not all, of your daily meals including snacks. Although these diets can be personalized for faster adoption into the lifestyle, the costs are on the prohibitive side.

All of these diets have their merits and demerits. Just remember that the best weight loss diet is one that promotes permanent healthy lifestyle changes to the diet, exercise and other lifestyle habits.