Detox teas¹, skinny coffees, slimming sachets and keto diets² are just a few of the many diets and weight loss mechanisms promoted on social media³ today and more so now than ever that we’ve hit the oh so predictable “new year new you” rhetoric faced in every January magazine and social media outlet.

Especially concerning is the continued trend of “Celebrities'' and “social media influencers” promoting weight loss products through social media with zero knowledge of the impact these promotions may have on the public. As we begin our journey of 2021 some of us may be considering the lure of these fads to help with our endeavours for weight management but the risks of falling foul to these quick fixes and fads are incredibly high - So we plan to do our bit to debunk many of the diet myths and provide some helpful advice on why you need to ditch diets and deprivation for good and what you can do instead!

References:

1. BDA Releases Top 5 Celeb Diets to Avoid in 2019 

2. What is a keto diet? - BBC Good Food

3. Regulate nutrition information on social media petition — Nutrition Rocks (nutrition-rocks.co.uk)

4. How to diet - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

5. Quarter of Brits will make a New Year’s resolution | YouGov

6. Dieting and Eating Disorders - Weight Management (eatingdisorderhope.com)

7. Statistics for Journalists - Beat (beateatingdisorders.org.uk)

8. Eating disorders - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

9. The relationship between social media use and disordered eating in young adolescents - PubMed (nih.gov)