

Quiz: Can You Spot The Crazy (But Real) Diets Vs. The Fake Ones?

How's your B.S.-o-meter working?

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Normally, I'm a you do you kind of girl—especially when it comes to dieting. You want to live that high-fat life on the keto diet? Go for it. Feel like cutting carbs and giving the paleo diet a go? More power to ya.

But, as a health editor, I do have to draw the line somewhere—and it's typically when diets stop being healthy, balanced changes that fit your lifestyle, and morph into ultra-restrictive, life-ruining chores. And honestly, "restrictive" and "life-ruining" are putting things mildly—lots of diets out there are actually crazy (and crazy-harmful). So much so, in fact, that it makes me wonder if those totally ridiculous diets are real or some kind of sick joke.

LMK what you think—which of the diets below are legit and which are total B.S.?

The Baby Food Diet

How it works: You eat baby food for your first two meals of the day—so, seven jars for breakfast and seven jars for lunch—then a sensible dinner.

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The verdict: The Baby Food Diet is real, but (pretty please) don't do it. Not only is it unsustainable, but, because the food is liquefied, your body can't pick up on fullness cues as easily, meaning empty jars won't signal fullness, says Sharon Palmer, R.D.N., author of Plant-Powered for Life.

The Military Diet

How it works: For three days, you restrict calories, but eat a super random selection of foods like hot dogs, cottage cheese, and ice cream on the Military Diet. Then, you can eat whatever you want for the other four days.

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The verdict: Yeah, it's a thing... that, again, you definitely shouldn't try. "It has absolutely no significance or scientific merit," says Monica Auslander, R.D., founder of Essence Nutrition in Miami.

The Clay Diet

How it works: The Clay Diet's claim here is that, if you stir clay into a glass of water and drink it, it can clear your gut of toxins and curb hunger.

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The verdict: It's real, but OMG don't even think about trying it! The "diet" is potentially dangerous, says Toby Amidor, R.D., author of The Greek Yogurt Kitchen. Consuming clay can actually damage the lining of your intestines and lead to deficiencies of important nutrients.

The Air Diet

How it works: The Air Diet's easy—you hold an empty fork up to your mouth and pretend to eat high-calorie foods instead of giving in to cravings.

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The verdict: [Insert eye roll here] because yes, this is true. But we're going to bet you won't try this because, come on. Not only does it promote disordered eating but it'll lead to a drastic drop in calories, and you'd look absolutely ridiculous.

The Tapeworm Diet

How it works: Sorry in advance, but the Tapeworm Diet consists of ingesting an actual tapeworm so it can feed on whatever food you eat, so you don't absorb the calories.

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The Verdict: So, so gross; but also real. We don't want to talk about it anymore. Just don't ingest a tapeworm, got it?

The Cotton Ball Cleanse

How it works: Dunk a cotton ball in juice and eat it. The cotton balls have a sponge-like effect in your stomach to expand and make you feel full.

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The verdict: The Cotton Ball Cleanse is an absolutely terrible idea, but it's real. First: Cotton balls are indigestible. They can become trapped and form an intestinal obstruction, says Josh Davenport, M.D., an emergency room physician. Second: They're cotton, so they have zero nutrients.

The Cookie Diet

How it works: No, these aren't Chips Ahoy cookies. Dr. Siegal's Cookie Diet entails eating one or two cookies (which are supposed to be made with a special hunger-fighting ingredient) every two hours for a total of nine cookies a day. Then, you can have one 500- to 700-calorie meal of your choice.

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The verdict: Real? Yes. Worth ruining your appetite for all other cookies? Definitely not.

The Mono Diet

How it works: Choose one food item, like apples, and then eat only that food item.

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The verdict: The Mono Diet is real—and really not good. "You'll almost certainly suffer from malnourishment and muscle loss, and that muscle loss will translate into a slower metabolism," says Caroline Apovian, M.D., director of the Nutrition and Weight Management Center at the Boston Medical Center.

The Corset Diet

How it works: On the Corset Diet, you' re supposed to wear a corset for several hours a day to slim your waist.

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The verdict: Yep, it's been done. But "it's outrageous, and it just absolutely makes no medical sense whatsoever," says Keri Peterson, M.D., a physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

The Werewolf Diet

How it works: Basically, the Werewolf Diet tells you to fast for an entire day during a full or new moon to cleanse your body of toxins and lose up to six pounds of water weight.

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The verdict: Yep, it's legit—in an "OMG we can't believe this is actually a thing" way. Also, losing six pounds in one day, even if it's just water weight, is pretty unrealistic, says Keri Glassman, R.D.

The Ice Diet

How it works: Eat one liter of ice (about four cups) and you can burn 160 calories. Do that each day for a month and you can lose up to one pound.

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The verdict: The Ice Diet is real, and honestly, anticlimactic. But at least you'd be really hydrated.

The Cabbage Soup Diet

How it works: You're supposed to eat cabbage soup several times each day, along with fruit, vegetables, skim or almond milk, brown rice, potatoes, and chicken, fish, or beef—but only on certain days and only in specific quantities.

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The verdict: Yeah, people have definitely done the Cabbage Soup Diet (and we would not want to be in an unventilated room with them). Also, it's not great for you: “Trying to eat only soup and fruits and vegetables is just not balanced,” says Georgie Fear, R.D., board-certified sports dietitian and author of Lean Habits for Lifelong Weight Loss.

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