Google “diet” and you’re greeted with more than 1 billion results on the supposed best ways to lose weight, gain muscle, and live longer. But diet is a broad statement and, as you probably know, there are dozens of ways to structure your eating plan based on your preferences and goals, and the Internet reflects that.
Google recently released its “Year in Search 2019,” which lists the most popular terms entered into the search system this year. The “diet” category was diverse, with some old favorites making the list and some not-so-well-known entries popping up as well.
To save you the trouble of googling each of these, we researched the 10 most searched diets of 2019 and created a brief explainer of each. While we recommend some of them—intermittent fasting, for example—others are so extreme we don’t recommend trying them for yourself.
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Intermittent Fasting
By now you probably know what intermittent fasting is: an eating strategy that has you consume all your calories in a set timespan (typically 8 or 10 hours), and fast for the rest of the day. Simple.
Multiple studies have shown that it’s an effective way to speed up weight loss, and could even help treat diabetes and high blood pressure.
It’s been around for a while, but with more and more people singing its praises it’s no wonder it landed in the No. 1 spot. Many celebrities have also become strict intermittent fasters, including Halle Berry, Vanessa Hudgens, Kourtney Kardashian, Jenna Jameson, and Hugh Jackman.
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Dr. Sebi Diet
Created by the late herbalist Alfredo Darrington Bowman—who was known as Dr. Sebi, even though he wasn’t a doctor and didn’t hold a Ph.D.—this diet stresses the importance of mineral balance.
Dr. Sebi believed diseases were the result of mucus build-up in the body, and that to restore the body’s natural alkaline state people needed to eat his carefully structured plant-based diet and take his own brand of supplements. While that sounds easy enough, the diet comes with a laundry list of rules. For example, while you can eat olive oil, you can never cook it, and you’re not allowed to eat canned or seedless fruits. You also must take his supplements at specified times throughout the day and drink a gallon of water daily.
Unlike many popular diets, the Dr. Sebi program doesn’t have many vocal celebrity endorsements, but he did have one: the late rapper Nipsey Hussle, who rapped about the “doctor” in his 2018 track Blue Laces 2. “They killed Dr. Sebi, he was teaching health.”
Sebi was arrested in Honduras on money laundering charges in 2016, and later died in prison of pneumonia. His followers believe he was being targeted because he taught alternative medicine and urged people to move away from traditional medicine.
Sebi also reportedly treated Michael Jackson, Steven Seagal, John Travolta, and Eddie Murphy, according to obituaries written after the guru’s death.
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Courtesy of Noom
The Noom Diet
Noom is one of the most popular weight loss apps on the market, with more than 47 million people turning to it to lose weight.
Users start off by taking a short quiz about their weight loss goals and preferred coaching style. The app creates a personalized plan with tools to track food intake and exercise in the app as well as access to a personal health coach.
Foods are split into three categories: green, yellow and red. Green foods (oatmeal, egg whites, and sweet potatoes) should make up the majority of your diet, yellow (avocados, beer, beans) eaten in moderation, and red (pizza, bacon, and cake) consumed sparingly.
There are two Noom programs: the Healthy Weight Program and the Diabetes Prevention Program. Both cost $59 per month, or $199 per year.
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The 1,200 Calorie Diet
Pretty self-explanatory: You stick to 1,200 calories per day. People who follow this program are typically severely overweight and are looking to lose 1-2 pounds per week.
Dr. Younan Nowzaradan, of TLC’s My 600-Pound Life, for example, prescribes a 1,200 calorie diet to his patients preparing for bariatric surgery.
The diet, though, has come under fire from health officials who say 1,200 calories is not enough to sustain a person through their everyday life, and that it could lead to malnutrition.
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The GOLO Diet
The GOLO diet started trending in 2016, thanks in part to an endorsement by Dr. Oz, and its popularity hasn’t waned since. In essence, it’s a low-glycemic diet—one filled with foods that don’t spike blood sugar levels—created by a team of doctors and health professionals.
One big component of the diet is GOLO Release, a supplement created by the company that supposedly helps regulate blood sugar levels, increase energy, and reduce cravings. Little research has been done on its effectiveness, and whatever studies have been done were funded by the company.
GOLO’s website touts that it has helped hundreds of people lose massive amounts of weight, some more than 100 pounds in one year.
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The Dubrow Diet
The Dubrow Diet, created by Heather and Terry Dubrow, is a combination of intermittent fasting and low-carb eating. Here’s a quick sneak peek.
For the first 2-5 days, you follow a 16/8 intermittent fasting (IF) schedule (fast for 16 hours, eat for 8 hours) and focus on lean proteins, healthy fats, and non-starchy vegetables.
Phase 2 comes in a number of options and allows for a certain number of cheat meals per week. You can either follow a 16/8 IF schedule, or 12/12. Phase 3 is the maintenance phase, in which you follow a 12/12 IF schedule for five days out of the week and a 16/8 for the other two days.
The full plans are outlined in the Dubrows’ book, The Dubrow Diet: Interval Eating to Lose Weight and Feel Ageless. It’s received mixed reviews from health experts, who recognize the benefits of IF but argue the meal plans advocated by the Dubrows are often too low in calories.
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The Sirtfood Diet
Celebrity nutritionists Aidan Goggins and Glen Matten say that sirtfoods—foods high in sirtuins, a group of proteins found in the body that regulate metabolism—are the secret to getting and staying lean. They also say it can help people maintain muscle mass and protect you from chronic diseases.
Part of the reason it has become so popular is that it permits red wine and chocolate—both of which are high in sirts. However, health experts warn the recommended caloric intake—only 1,000 per day for the first three days—is dangerously low.
The Sirtfood diet is split into two phases. During Phase 1, you’re only allowed three sirtfood green juices and one full meal rich in sirtfoods, which amounts to 1,000 calories. On days four to seven, you increase your caloric intake to 1,500 by having two green juices and two meals per day.
In Phase 2, you eat three sirtfood-rich meals per day, and a green juice. Followers have said they’ve lost seven pounds in a week following the plan. The sirtfood diet has a number of celebrity followers, including Adele and Pippa Middleton.
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The No-Carbs, No-Sugar Diet
This one’s easy: just eliminate an entire macronutrient. On this diet, you’ll stick to proteins and fats—so lots of meat, fish, eggs, cheese, oils, and nut butters.
Essentially it’s a more extreme version of keto. Some studies have shown that reducing carbs could lead to weight loss, but others have shown it’s no more effective than general caloric restriction.
It’s generally thought of as a short-term diet, and not meant to be followed for long periods of time. Celebrities like J.Lo have taken on the challenge (more on her later).
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The Endomorph Diet
Endomorphs are people who tend to have larger or thicker bodies—not necessarily fat or obese—and tend to gain weight more easily, especially around the midsection. Because of this, an endomorph diet is one that avoids food that can lead to weight gain, such as refined carbs.
An endomorph diet is typically 40 percent protein, 40 percent fat, and 20 percent carbs.
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The J.Lo Diet
It’s hard to believe sometimes that J.Lo is 50, but when you eat and work out like her, age is just a number. It’s hard to pinpoint the Hustlers actress’ diet because it changes periodically. Perhaps that’s the reason so many people are searching for more information about her diet.
However, there are some hints. She told Hollywood Life she hasn’t had caffeine in years and that she doesn’t drink alcohol. She also generally sticks to clean eating. Earlier this year, she shared that she took on a 10-day no carb, no sugar challenge.
