When the word diet is mentioned, most people think about weight loss. Contrary to the perception of many, diets do not automatically mean weight loss foods, but simply the food that someone eats. The word diet comes from French word “diete,” which means a daily food allowance. A diet can be defined as a set eating and drinking course, where the amount of food to be eaten is planned out to achieve a certain lifestyle. There are thousands of diets, some for losing weight, others for a healthy lifestyle, lowering cholesterol levels, gaining weight, etc.

A List of the Different Diet Types

Crash Diets

Crash diets refer to diet plans where extreme and swift changes are made in the consumption of food. Most crash diets are weight loss diets, used to lose weight fast and in a short period. The concept is to reduce the daily intake of calories to as little as 700 calories daily. While this is rather uncomfortable, it can enable you lose between 5 to 20 pounds within just a few days. Crash diets are a good idea if you need to lose weight for a particular reason in a short time frame, for example, an upcoming wedding, date, party or any other event.

Types of diets in this category include

• Beverly Hills Diet
• Juice Fast Crash Diet
• The Master Cleanse
• Xtreme Fat Loss Diet
• Cabbage Soup diet

Fad Diets

Just like crash diets, fad diets are also diet plans where a radical and quick change in your food consumption is made. They are also popular among people looking for a way to lose a considerable amount of weight in a short time frame. These diets are meant for a quick fix and thus you should not use them for a long time. A typical fad diet can enable you lose in just a week.

Types of diets in the fad diet category include:

• Grapefruit Diet
• Lemonade Diet
• Cabbage Soup Diet
• Tapeworm Diet

Weight Loss Diets

With almost everyone searching for a way to lose weight, weight loss diets are perhaps the most common types of diets in the world today. Weight loss diets include a wide variety of diets such as low-fat diets, low-calorie diets, low-carbs diet, etc. Due the false impression about how one’s body should look like that has been created by the media, most of the weight loss diets available today are considered to be either a health risk or not effective in the long term, for example, the crash and fad diets.

Examples of weight loss diets include:

• Atkins diet
• 3-Hour Diet
• Best Life Diet
• Caveman Diet
• Fat Flush Diets

Detox Diets

Detox diet refers to any diet plan you use to remove environmental and dietary toxins from your body. The term can also refer to a diet plan where you avoid consuming foods with substances that are considered harmful or unhelpful to your body. A detox diet usually includes foods low in chemicals, foods that contain vitamin and antioxidants, foods with high fiber content and water.

Examples of detox diets include:

• Master Cleanse
• Jump-Start Juicer
• Fast-Track Detox Diet
• Juice Fasting

Low-Carb Diets

Low-carb diets are diet plans where the foods eaten have a low carbohydrate content and a relatively higher protein and fat content. Some low-carb diets restrict the intake of carbohydrates in the body sufficiently enough to cause ketosis – a state where the level of ketone bodies in the body is elevated. The ketone bodies are burned in order to use more of the stored fat in the body. This is what makes low-carb diets popular for losing weight.

Examples of low-carb diets include:

• Atkins Diet
• The Zone Diet
• Ketogenic Diets
• South Beach Diet
• Sonoma Diet

Vegetarian and Vegan Diets

A vegetarian diet is a diet plan that does not include meat. Vegetarians do not eat foods containing any form of meat or fish produce, but they take eggs and milk. A vegan diet on the other hand is a diet plan that does not contain any food that is animal based, including eggs, milk and honey. While some people adopt vegan diets for health reason, most do so for ethical/compassionate, environmental and religious reasons. Vegan diets are thus more of philosophy and a way of life than a diet.

Types of diets in the vegetarian category include:

• Plant based diets
• Lacto Vegetarianism diets
• Pescetarian Diet
• Flexitarian Diet

Examples of vegan diet include

• The Skinny Bitch Diet

There you have a list of the many different types of diets. If you have tried any of them, or can think of any others, go ahead and let us know in the comments.