Time to ditch unhealthy diets and embrace 'living in the grey'

A group of nutrition experts on social media are fighting diets they consider harmful – by encouraging healthy lifestyles, rather than playing off people's insecurities. — CHRISTIN KLOSE/dpa

REMEMBER the werewolf diet? It made rounds about 10 years ago and told adherants to fast according to lunar cycles, claiming to help them lose one to 2.7kg in the span of a day. Or how about the five-bite diet? This one says to skip breakfast and take only five bites of lunch and dinner.

You may be used to seeing these kinds of claims, usually pitched by beautiful, shredded individuals on the Internet. You may even be tempted to believe them.