There are countless diets out there, some that work, some that don’t. Ordinarily, seeing what works for you is a good bet – after all, everyone’s body is different and what works for one person might not work for the next. But there are a few diets that we think no one should attempt. Here are five of the craziest.
1. The Tapeworm Diet
Yes, that’s right: tapeworms – parasites that most of us try to avoid with good hygiene and proper food safety techniques. The idea behind the tapeworm diet is that if you intentionally ingest the worm, it will take up residence in your intestines and essentially digest food that would have otherwise gone into your body, thereby reducing your caloric intake.
Needless to say, this is not a good idea. While a tapeworm infection can indeed cause weight loss as a side effect, it also comes with symptoms like vitamin and mineral deficiencies, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, weakness, and diarrhea, and can be potentially fatal.
2. The Cookie Diet
Imagine getting to eat cookies for every meal. Sound too good to be true? That’s because the cookie diet is, pretty much, too good to be true.
Sure, you’ll lose weight by eating only the specially formulated cookies for every single meal, but if you follow the plan, you’ll also only be consuming 800 calories per day – less than the recommended amount for safe weight loss.
Plus, you can only eat cookies. And that can’t be good for your health.