There are diet fads, and then there are diet fads. While many diets try their best to give you wholesome nutrition while restricting the calories, here are some crazy and ridiculous diet fads that have come and gone and have attracted their share of criticism, and of course - followers.  Sure, these diets may have resulted in weight loss. But are any of them remotely healthy? Ah, that’s another story altogether. Here's looking at the 5 most ridiculous diet fads in recent times, and yes we are pointing fingers...

1) Vodka anyone?
‘The drinking man’s diet’ - a weight loss book published by Robert Cameron in 1964 got a lot of flack from experts of that era. The diet was quite simple. Low carbs, high proteins, and as much Whiskey, Gin, Vodka or any other distilled liquor as you like. The extremely low carbohydrates and the high alcohol content will lead to a thinner waistline and also liver disease in all probability.

2) Cabbage, cabbage, even more cabbage
The cabbage soup diet is exactly that: Cabbage soup and nothing else for 7 days. Apart from the fact that it is a totally unbalanced diet, once you lose water weight in the 7 days (which you will of course), it will come right back once you go off it. It is a popular one with the celebrities, who want to shed the pounds quickly. Is it healthy? We think not.

3) A great fruit that grape fruit
The grape fruit diet is again pretty simple to follow. Grape fruit has fat burning properties “apparently”. So all you have to do is eat a grapefruit before every meal and you are good to go. Sounds too good to be true? Maybe because you haven’t read the fine print, which says meals have to be tiny – like 800 calories a day. Thanks Grape fruit, a big help you’ve been!

4) Pass me the lemonade please
This one is popularized by Beyonce Knowles. This diet requires users to drink six to 12 glasses of lemonade laced with cayenne pepper (Lal mirch) and maple syrup. If you’re still hungry, no problem, you can have another glass, and then? Yet another one. Beyonce admitted that she lost 18 pounds in 10 days with the diet (WOW!) But she put all of it right back on when she got back to eating normally. Celebrities are human too you know. They have weighty issues just like us. 

5) Hey baby
This one’s truly my favourite. Reese Witherspoon, cute as she may be, swears by it.  For a quick weight loss fix, just eat baby food. Yummy. You can maintain a very healthy lifestyle by consuming just 600 calories a day. You really can. Assuming you are a baby, of course.

Why did we highlight these 5 ridiculous diet fads? To stop the insanity! Focus on changing your lifestyle to a healthy and active one for long-term weight management instead of experimenting with silly diet fads.