Deconstructing Hollywood diets

Jaime Pressley: Cabbage soup diet
The My Name Is Earl is star lost the first 10 pounds of her pregnancy weight on the cabbage soup diet, eating only cabbage soup and a small amount of vegetables for one week.

"By eating only fibre and water from cabbages and similar vegetables," says Chen "one basically starves the body – like the effects of The Master Cleanse – and forces the dieter to gain all of the weight back after the diet is over."

Verdict:  Unsafe

Jennifer Aniston: The Zone
When Aniston first landed a part on the über series Friends, she quickly went on The Zone diet to lose some extra pounds for her new job. After seeing how this low carb, high protein diet – based on the scientific principle that too many carbohydrates lead to high insulin production, which leads to weight gain – helped her spiff up her body and maintained her goal weight, she decided to make The Zone diet a life choice and continues to Zone to this day.

With calorie control based on less than 500 calories per meal and less than 100 calories for a snack, The Zone is a perfect way to slim down and keep the weight off.

Verdict: Safe, healthy and relatively easy.

Reese Witherspoon: Baby food diet
Reese credits her fit body to running three to four miles daily, snacking on baby food and eating only one adult meal daily.

Though the texture and the thought of eating baby food may be unappealing, Chen believes that as long as both carbohydrates and proteins are being consumed, eating baby food is a healthy way to snack and can aid in weight loss

Verdict:  Safe but unappetizing!

Claudia Schiffer: Light morning fare
To stay svelte, Claudia Schiffer eats nothing but fruit before noon, has a light dinner of salad and steamed vegetables, and snacks on tomato juice, black grapes and herbal tea.

Although this diet sounds good on paper, Chen believes there is one major flaw in Schiffer’s plan. "One should eat within two hours of rising to ensure proper fuel is supplied to the body.  During nightly sleep, we deplete our supply of fuel and water, and morning is the time to rehydrate and refuel. Studies have shown that dieters who achieve successful, permanent weight loss do so by eating a light breakfast – usually cereal and low-fat milk – as a principle of appetite and metabolic control."

Verdict: Safe but not realistic for weight loss.

Although most of these options are, well let's put it bluntly, crazy, the facts remain the same: as long as healthy food is being eaten with both protein and carbohydrates there is a good chance that weight will be lost in a safe way. But when it comes to the common person trying to look as svelte as our favourite celebrities, Sarah Michelle Gellar says it best: "Look, it's crazy for people to try to be as thin as we are. We have personal trainers and personal chefs. It's our job to look this way."

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