500 Calorie a Day Diets

Five hundred calorie diets are very low calorie diets which provide far fewer calories and less nutrient variety than the standard diets usually favored by doctors and dieticians. They are often considered dangerous when not medically supervised.

History

Doctors began prescribing and managing liquid diets for morbidly obese patients in the 1970s. These diets are typically 500 to 800 calories and consist of three liquid meals per day. They may be medically indicated in extreme cases, yet private companies have marketed similar liquid diets and very low calorie regimens for the over-the-counter market.

Significance

Very low calorie diets are not healthy for most people over the long term. However, since they appear to provide a simple answer to ultra-quick weight loss, they are popular with dieters seeking shortcuts.

Types

Liquid meal replacements and juice fasting are a common types of 500-calorie diets. Other popular eating plans include the Grapefruit Diet and the Cabbage Diet, which are considered fad diets with no proven long-term benefits.

Effects

According the American Dietetic Association, a very low calorie diet generally induces a rapid initial weight loss and a strong likelihood of weight regain after discontinuing the diet.

Warning

A 530-calorie diet called the Lighter Life Diet has been linked to problems ranging from memory loss to premature death, according to a September 2009 article in the Daily Mail of London.