Paleo, keto, raw-food movement, alkaline diet, we’ve seen a lot of different kinds of diets that promise weight loss. The latest entry to these fads is The Snake Diet.
According to its founder, Alberta-based Cole Robinson, this diet follows a three-step approach. In the first phase, you fast for 48-hours and use apple cider vinegar and “snake juice” (which his website refers to as an “essential mineral replacement”) to help clear toxins from your liver. In the second phase, you follow a flexible fasting routine, and in the third phase you start listening to your body’s natural hunger cues to maintain the weight loss.
Robinson says that he’s seen a lot of coaches and trainers in the fitness industry give advice to clients without understanding how our body metabolises food and coverts it to fuel. He wants to use this diet to help people achieve their goal weight. In his videos, Robinson also claims that this diet can help cure type 2 diabetes, herpes and inflammation. He also says that this diet is superior to keto, another popular weight loss diet.
According to Robinson, the main objective of The Snake Diet is to fast for as long as possible. This means that the body needs to consume all the required calories and nutrients in one single meal and fast for the rest of the day. “The meal that you eat needs to be extremely high fat because carbs have very little calories,” says Robinson in of his videos.
Eat like a snake, why?
So, is this diet safe? Definitely not. You are not a snake, you are human. So, it’s best to eat like a human and follow safe weight loss practices. According to Mumbai-based nutritionist Raheela Hasan, The Snake Diet is just a fad with no real scientific backing. “This diet is not good for your body for many reasons. It requires long periods of fasting, eating just one meal that makes you feel lighter, but it is not a sustainable option.”
Like with many diet fads, this one too cannot be practised in the long run. And once you stop fasting, you’ll regain all the lost weight. Hasan adds, “This diet is dangerous because it can lead to loss of nutrients and will adversely affect your metabolism. Eating just one meal a day is not practical. If you starve, the body starts storing fats when there is no other source of energy.”
In short, any diet that promises results quickly with drastic changes to your lifestyle are not healthy. A sustained weight loss plan that includes clean eating and regular exercise is a much better way of losing weight.
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