5 Fad Diets That Might Work & What you Need to Know About Them

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Dr. Alexander van Tulleken is presenting a Channel 4 series on diets and decided he had to try some of the fad diets himself to give a firsthand account on them. He has been a lifelong skeptic of dieting and the diet industry in general and believes that all of them are nothing more than "rubbish."

But when18 other volunteer dieters lost an aggregate of 15 stones (1st equals 14 lbs) after undergoing some of the fad diets, he may have just eaten his own words—no pun intended.

So, here are some of the fad diets that may sound a bit peculiar to others, but might just prove to be effective.

KEN Diet

One of the diets that Dr. van Tulleken tried out was the KEN (Ketogenic Enteral Nutrition) diet involving a procedure where a flexible plastic tube was inserted to the nose and pushed down into his stomach. Through these naso-gastric tubes, the dieter is fed with tiny quantities of a mixture of protein and nutrients delivered through a pump inside a backpack that is connected to the other end of the tube.

The constant flow of the mixture suppresses the appetite of the dieter while feeding him with a low-calorie intake of nutrients. The KEN diet promises a weight loss of as much as 10 percent of one's body weight in 10 days. And, as much as he hates to admit it, Dr. van Tulleken said in his article for the Daily Mail that it worked on him.

5:2 Diet

This diet resembles some of the intermittent-fasting diets where there is no restriction on the type of foods you consume, notes BBC Good Food. The idea is to eat normally for five days and fast for two non-consecutive days. You can consume a normal amount of calorie intake for the majority of the week, while limiting your calorie total to 25 percent of the normal amount for the two days.

The dieters can expect to lose 1-lb every week of they are willing to experience a bit of hunger for a couple of days. According to nutritional therapist Kerry Torrens, apart from the weight loss, the 5:2 diet is linked to a longer life; lower risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer; improved cholesterol levels and blood-sugar control; and slower ageing.

Bulletproof Diet

While there a lot of experts who debunk their claims, the proponents of the diet swear by that it could lead to high performance, low inflammation and high energy lifestyle. You can check out the complete steps here courtesy of BulletProofExec.

Master Cleanse

This diet involves the intake of 4 cups of salt water in the morning, a cup of herbal laxative tea in the evening, and 6 to 12 glasses of "lemonade" within the day. The lemonade is a mixture of fresh lemon or lime juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper and water.

There will be no solid food intake for 10 days in the Master Cleanse. It was originally used for cleansing and detox, but has been regarded as a good weight loss program, with rumors that Beyonce used it for her role in "Dreamgirls," says US News Health.

Grapefruit Diet

The principle behind the diet is that grapefruits contains certain enzymes that aids in fat burning. While there are different versions, the classic one recommends cutting back on carbs and sugars, eating high-protein and high-fat food, and eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice before meals. It promises 10 lbs in 10-12 days, says WebMD