Following a trends may work well for choosing clothes, home decorations and hair styles, but when it comes to nutrition, following a trendy diet for the long period of time may not be best for your body or your lifestyle.

Trendy, or fad, diets are popular weight-loss plans that often promise dramatic results. Many of them involve eliminating foods or entire food groups. Here are five of the most popular diets and what you should know about them as you consider nutrition and your food options:

Keto

Keto, short for ketogenic, is a dietary regimen that’s high in fat and low in carbohydrates. The goal of the keto diet is to help with weight loss, improve mental clarity and increase energy levels. The keto diet involves consuming a very low amount of carbohydrates and replacing them with fat to help your body burn fat for energy. Keto was originally used to treat epilepsy in children whose diets were not working. It works by putting the body in a metabolic (fasting) state because of the limited carb intake but it still supplies enough energy to support most needs. The body goes into ketosis and begins to burn fat for fuel.

Pros: Keto offers accelerated weight loss and helps with blood sugar management. Research shows that it has been helpful in some athletic training, cancer treatments and neurologic conditions.

Cons: Keto has been known to possibly cause some kidney damage, digestive discomfort, nutrient deficiency and social isolation due to concerns about available food options.

Paleo Whole30

This dietary approach combines the principles of the paleo diet with the strict 30-day elimination phase of the Whole30 program. For this diet, you’ll only consume whole, unprocessed foods (like those considered paleo) for 30 days to identify potential food sensitivities and reset your eating habits. The goal is to then reintroduce certain foods carefully to see how your body reacts. The diet is set up as a modern eating style to imitate the hunter and gatherer ancestors that prioritized eating whole foods. It reduces processed foods (chemically altered foods), has lower sodium, little or no sugar, no beans and legumes, has little to no alcohol and no dairy.

• Pros: The Paleo Whole30 program has been helpful in weight loss, blood sugar regulation, improvement in digestion, reduction in inflammation, improvement in chronic health conditions and better sleep habits.

• Cons: Paleo Whole30 diets can be costly. Vegetarians and athletes may find it hard to stick to this diet.

Gluten-Free

This diet is free of gluten, which are proteins found in wheat, barley, rye, triticale (a cross between wheat and rye) and many oat products. It was originally introduced to help celiac disease patients and individuals with other autoimmune conditions. Gluten-fee diets have also become popular among people who haven’t been diagnosed with a gluten-related medical condition for its claimed dietary benefits. On this diet, you need to learn which foods contain gluten and avoid them. This is not easy, because gluten is in many foods and food products. Because you cut out a whole group of foods, a gluten-free diet can cause you to lose weight.

• Pros: Gluten-free helps reduce processed foods in diet and can help with weight loss. It reduces inflammation and aids in digestion, both needed for celiac disease.

• Cons: Gluten-free can be hard to commit to long-term. Products can be challenging to find and costly when available. Reducing or removing all gluten can lead to possible nutrient deficiencies.

Intermittent Fasting

This is an eating plan that involves alternating between fasting (not eating) and eating on a regular schedule. Intermittent fasting (IF) is based on the idea that when we restrict food, our bodies will use fat stores for energy more quickly, leading to weight loss and other health benefits. It doesn’t specify foods that are allowed or not allowed but rather when you should eat them. It can cause a reduction in calories and create a metabolic shift to use fat for energy. There are many ways to do IF, but a popular approach is the 16/8 method. With this method, you eat all your meals during an 8-hour window and then don’t eat for the remaining 16 hours.

• Pros: IF has no food specifics. Therefore, you can eat whatever you like in the allowed time frame.

• Cons: IF is hard to manage long-term and it may not support metabolic and hormone systems. Some people may not lose weight because they are overeating or eating unhealthy or processed foods in their allowed eating period.

Mediterranean

The Mediterranean diet is a plant-based eating style that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts and healthy fats. It also includes fish and poultry, and limits red meat, processed foods and added sugars. This eating pattern emphasizes plant-based foods, minimally processed ingredients and whole grains. It replaces saturated fats like butter, with unsaturated fats like olive oil. The diet recommends using herbs and spices to flavor foods rather than salt. It limits red meat to no more than a few times per week and recommends fish and poultry at least twice per week. Optional red wine in moderation is allowed. This diet is often recommended to prevent and treat heart disease.

• Pros: Mediterranean offers a more diverse option of foods. It has heart health benefits and potential weight loss. It has also been known to reduce blood sugar.

• Cons: While the cons are negligible, overuse of olive oil and nuts could lead to weight gain. This style of eating can be more costly and those with certain health conditions may need to avoid wine and dairy.

What’s the Right Way to Eat? *

Now that we’ve covered these popular diets, it’s important to note that there is no one right way to eat. Every individual is different and bodies may need customization when it comes to energy and the right balance. A general rule when it comes to good nutrition is to eat fresh, whole foods as often as possible. Try to eat foods with a shorter expiration date. If an item can sit on a shelf or in a cupboard for a long time, and it has a long list of ingredients, then it may not be the best for you. Before proceeding with a diet or lifestyle change, always talk to your doctor or dietician.

What to know before you try any diet:

• Talk to your doctor before you begin a drastic, new way of eating. Your physician may want to monitor your health progress.

• If you’re taking medication, you should consider how that medication could affect or be affected due to dietary changes.

• Track your energy, blood sugar levels and other vital signs to ensure you are staying well.

• If you want a boost to your weight loss or for other health reasons, then try these diets on a short-term basis to see how they work for you.

• Keep in mind what you can manage for the long-term lifestyle, both personally and financially.

*This information was provided by Jessica Gilkey, RD, LD/N, registered dietitian, licensed dietitian/nutritionist and health coach. Baptist Health Care does not recommend or endorse any particular diet.