We are swamped every day with new diets, pills, supplements, foods, and are told to avoid this or that if we want to lose weight.

How on earth do we know which diets we should choose, and which we should avoid?

Here’s our cheat sheet for sniffing out a fad diet…

1: You are told that one food/food group is the bad guy

There are no good or bad foods, every food has its place in a balanced diet, and the more we try and exclude a food, the more we crave it. Any single food is not going to be the cause of being overweight, but instead, the grand total of every diet and lifestyle choice we make over time.

2: You are told that one food/drink/supplement is the solution

Whether it is claims of increased metabolism, suppressed appetite, detoxing your system, or any other health claims, any diet that claims that one thing is going to be what makes you lose weight once and for all, is bound to be flawed.

Instead, a sum of lots of little everyday choices to be healthier will result in the noticeable changes to weight and feelings of wellbeing.

3: You are asked to make changes to your diet that you know you can’t sustain

Whether it is cutting out carbs when your favourite meal is pasta, or having to cook elaborate meals every night when you can barely boil water without burning it, or requires expensive foods when you are already on a stretched budget, if you can’t sustain it for the long term you know it’s not the right diet for you.

4: It puts your health at risk

Extreme calorie deficits, diets extremely high in saturated fat or salt, diets that cut out key nutrients, that encourage high amounts of caffeine, or puts your health at risk for the short term to get you the weight loss results you want aren’t worth it. If it doesn’t sound right to you, it probably isn’t.