Here are two more diet trends that registered dietitian Julie Upton says you should never try:

Master Cleanse
In southern California, this is a big trend. Dieters are trying the “cleanse” by drinking a concoction of squeezed lemons, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper several times a day for 10 days, says Karla Campbell, MS, RD, a dietitian in Long Beach, Calif. Then they down an herbal laxative tea at night and a quart of salt water first thing in the morning, supposedly to clean out the GI tract and bowels. Needless to say, there are no studies to suggest that our GI tracts and organs need any help in removing waste or so-called toxins from the body.  

The diet is only 650–1,300 calories, and it lacks key nutrients like protein, calcium, iron, and zinc―so no dietitian recommends doing it for more than a day or two. Campbell also adds this warning: “Dieters who try it end up losing lean body mass, and then when they are ‘cleansed’ and go back to their old ways, they gain fat. They end up being a fatter version of their old selves.”

Registered dietitian Julie Upton recently wrote an article for Real Simple about diets trends that you should never try. It was very interesting, and she even listed some we haven't even heard of! The list was so interesting in fact, that we thought it was worthy of sharing with our JSN readers. We have divided it into two parts and will bring you Part II next week.

Raw Food Diet

We hope that you have enjoyed our series of breaking down common diet myths. Thanks to Real Simple Magazine for this wealth of information of what is fact and what is fiction!

Myth No. 9: Diet Foods Help You Diet

The Theory: Low-fat, low-carb, and artificially sweetened packaged foods make losing weight painless.

The Reality: Low-fat and low-carb don't always mean low-cal, and if you're trying to lose weight, stocking up on these treats could undermine your efforts. In a series of recent studies, for instance, participants ate up to 50 percent more of foods that the researchers falsely labeled "low-fat" than they did of the same exact foods with real labels. "Consumers expect that low-fat M&M's contain 20 percent fewer calories than their regular counterparts," concluded the authors of the studies, Brian Wansink, Ph.D., and Pierre Chandon, Ph.D., in the Journal of Marketing Research, in November 2006. "Importantly, as a result, they expect that comparable increases in serving sizes are justified." Some experts also believe that consuming artificial sweeteners might backfire. Two long-term studies looking at the drinking habits of thousands of people have found a correlation between drinking diet soda and being overweight.

Continuing on our myth-busting endeavor, here are Myths #7 and #8. See how our friends at Real Simple explain them away....

Myth No. 7: Eating Protein and Carbs at Different Meals Will Help You Lose Weight

The Theory: Protein and carbohydrates require different enzymes for digestion; if you eat the two separately, you improve digestion and further weight loss.

The Reality: Your digestive tract can handle a variety of food groups at the same time. There is no proof that eating protein and carbohydrates separately aids digestion or weight loss, says nutritionist Christopher Gardner. Indeed, it's healthier to combine protein and fiber-filled carbs than to separate them. "The pairing of protein and fiber is what fills you up the most and gives you the most energy," says Elisa Zied, a New York City-based registered dietitian and a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.