Are these the 6 most weird and wacky diets ever? #Freelee the Banana Girl’s menu makes our list

FAD diets — everyone has tried them at some point but these six take the cake when it comes to weird and wacky. Our reporter tries one of them — see how long she lasts.

Fruit and vegetable overload: Reporter Stephanie Timotheou couldn’t make it through her third day on the Raw Till 4 diet. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

• TELL US BELOW: What’s the most extreme diet you have tried?

FAD diets — everyone has tried them at some point, often discovering they can do more harm than good.

In the modern era of social media there seems to be more than ever as the body-obsessed show off their perfect bodies in bid to encourage others to follow their extreme lifestyles.

Here are six of the weirdest and wackiest making waves around the globe.

For the record, we don’t recommend them — you can share in Stephanie’s experience below.

And we ask an Adelaide nutritionist her take on the body makeover foods.

Six weird and wacky diets

Raw Till 4 diet

THE diet involves eating a large amount of raw fruit until 4pm and a high-carbohydrate vegan meal for dinner.

Tapeworm diet

The key is to let the tapeworm live inside the body for up to 10 weeks, then take prescribed medication to kill it. The diet has been around for centuries, allowing the tapeworm to consume half the food you eat.

Baby food diet

Made famous by US celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson, the baby food diet involves eating 14 servings of baby food each day, followed by a proper ‘adult’ dinner at night. Reese Witherspoon swears by it, but deficiencies in iron, zinc and calcium could arise.

Werewolf diet

This diet — also known as the moon diet or lunar diet — claims to help people lose up to 3kg in 24 hours by following the phases of the moon. The key to losing weight is a 24-hour water or juice fast during the full moon and new moon phases.

Cotton ball diet

This was made popular by models across the world who would gobble up cotton balls — dry or dipped in juices or smoothies — to fill up their tummies without consuming any calories. It has been condemned as one of the most dangerous diets, as most cotton balls contain chemicals.

Tongue patch diet

OK, it’s not really a food diet, but this sickening procedure is actually a thing in the US. It involves having a mesh patch stitched onto the tongue to make consumption of solid foods painful. The dieter ends up resorting to a restrictive, liquid-only diet.

In focus

Leanne Ratcliffe as Freelee the Banana Girl has a huge online following. Picture: Supplied

LEANNE Ratcliffe — also known as Freelee the Banana Girl — has grown something of a cult following after devising her Raw Till 4 diet.

With more than 447,000 Instagram followers, 239,000 Facebook fans and 720,000 YouTube subscribers, Freelee has converted ‘fruit bats’ across the world.

The diet involves eating a large amount of raw fruit until 4pm and a high-carbohydrate vegan meal for dinner.

The Adelaide-based fitness fanatic claims she has lost about 18kg by following the strict diet, which can include up to 51 bananas in one day.

And while the social media star has a huge following online, Freelee has been criticised for not having any relevant credentials.

University of South Australia nutrition and food sciences lecturer Dr Evangeline Mantzioris says the issue with these sorts of diets — and those who preach them — is that they’re not necessarily backed up by scientific evidence.

“We’re trying to make people understand that nutrition is science,” Dr Mantzioris says.

“The reality is these fad diets don’t work, that’s why they’re called fad diets.

“They’re trendy for a short period of time but they’re generally unsuccessful because there’s no science behind them.”

Dr Mantzioris, a qualified dietitian who has been in the field for 26 years, says while fruit should be included in everyone’s diet, just two pieces is enough to live a healthy, balanced lifestyle.

And she says, just as you wouldn’t seek medical advice from someone other than a doctor, people offering nutritional advice should have appropriate accreditation.

Dr Mantzioris says while doing the Raw Till 4 diet for a day or two won’t cause any harm, those who stick to it for a longer period of time could be in serious trouble.

“It can be dangerous, particularly for adolescent girls who might be more pressured to do these sorts of things,” she says.

“They’re running a high risk because if they lower their intake (of essential food groups), they reduce their growth rate.”

While Scout Digital Marketing’s Erica Stacey says social media allows people to create an enviable personality or lifestyle that may not be a reflection of reality.

“Topics such as food and health can quickly gain attention from social media users who want to admire or emulate that lifestyle,” Mrs Stacey says.

“This allows people to amass a huge following just by looking a certain way and saying certain things.”

She adds many people assume anything they read or see online is correct and don’t question it.

“This is very concerning, especially for younger people who are growing up in a world that worships celebrities and where self worth is measured by reinforcing ‘likes’, comments, clicks and shares from others.”

Freelee was contacted several times via email, Facebook and Twitter but did not respond by deadline.

What’s in the Raw Till 4 diet?

NO animal products

RAW food only (fruits and vegetables) until 4pm

HIGH-carb vegan meal for dinner (cooked with no oil)

DINNER must be low in sodium

DO not eat sweets/fruits after dinner

AIM for 2.5 to 3 litres of water per day

AIM for 1000+ calories per meal (2500+ calories per day or more must be achieved)

EXERCISE daily

A daily menu

REPORTER Stephanie Timotheou set out to stick to the diet for three days, but didn’t quite make it. Here is her diary:

Stephanie blended five bananas to make this breakfast smoothie.

DAY 1 (2574 CALORIES)

BREAKFAST

■ 5 bananas, 1.3 litres water and 2 drops vanilla essence blended into a smoothie.

OK, this is just cruel. My normal breakfast consists of two boiled eggs, a coffee and, if I’m feeling indulgent, a few 80 cent hashbrowns from the cafe in our building. After whipping up my banana smoothie, I ended up with a blender full to the brim. It took me an hour to finish two large glasses, which meant I had to take the remaining 500ml into work. My colleagues laughed at me. One even joked that Red Door Bakery was about to deliver pies and pasties. I died a little inside. Anyway, I drank it and (sort of) liked it. The toilet has become my best friend and I’ve got one full belly.

SNACK

■ 2 passionfruits

LUNCH

■ 5 mangoes. Bam! I got a headache. Obviously my body wasn’t coping well with the fruit overload. After eating one mango I didn’t want to continue — and it didn’t help that fellow The City reporter Sophie Perri walked into the room with a schnitty smothered in gravy. At that point I felt really sick and was considering throwing in the towel. My stomach was doing weird things. I decided to go for a walk around the block to get some fresh air and came back feeling much better, only to realise The City’s food writer Kylie Fleming was sent a huge box of Krispy Kremes. Determined to get past all the temptations, I smashed the other four mangoes and could literally feel the sugar on my teeth. My brain was a little clouded and it was a huge struggle to focus at work for the remainder of the day.

DINNER

■ 1kg of potatoes, diced and roasted

■ 1 bunch iceberg lettuce

■ Served with a side of low-sugar, low-sodium chilli sauce

I actually enjoyed this. After stuffing my gob with fruit all day, all I wanted was carbs — and lots of them. I felt much better after polishing off the whole bowl and the headache seemed to disappear. After my high-carb dinner, I went for a short walk around the block.

DAY 2 (2886 CALORIES)

BREAKFAST

■ 800ml coconut water, 800ml water, ¼ cup coconut sugar, 10 bananas and 2 drops coconut essence blended into a smoothie.

My blender wasn’t big enough for 10 bananas and 1.6 litres of liquid, so I had to tweak this meal a little, while keeping the calories high. I used five bananas, 500ml of coconut water and 500ml of water. The coconut sugar wasn’t necessary and made the smoothie way too sweet, but much more bearable than yesterday’s watery breakfast. I felt much better than I did the day before. My stomach wasn’t doing backflips which can only mean one thing — my body is getting used to the Raw Till 4 way of living.

SNACK

■ 3 passionfruits

LUNCH

■ 20 dates, ¼ cup coconut sugar, 2 drops vanilla essence and 800ml water blended into a smoothie.

I never want to see another date again. My lunch was like a sugary, watery, sticky date pudding puree. I couldn’t finish the whole lot, but I managed to down 500ml. I was extremely ‘hangry’ (a mix of being hungry and angry) but felt too sick to eat or drink anything else. Oh, and my headache came back. Terrific.

SNACK

■ ½ a large papaya

DINNER

■ 300g plain gluten-free corn pasta.

Carbs, glorious carbs. After feeling nauseous all day, all I wanted was to eat a big plate of pasta. While it seemed like a ridiculous amount at the time, it was relatively easy to consume due to the lack of food during the day. After polishing off the pasta, my headache didn’t go away and I felt really tired and sloppy so I decided this would be my last day on the Raw Till 4 diet.

DAY 3 (DID NOT COMPLETE)

BREAKFAST

■ 20 dates

■ 2 punnets blueberries

■ 1.7 litres water

■ Blended into a smoothie

LUNCH

■ 3 large papayas

DINNER

Vegan pizza

■ 1 capsicum

■ ½ pineapple

■ 1 tomato

■ 2 mushrooms

■ ½ eggplant

■ ½ cup spinach

■ 1 red onion

■ Gluten-free pizza base

It cost Stephanie $113.20 for the three-day menu, purchasing regular fruit from her local supermarket and grocer. Freelee recommends you only use “high quality organic products”.

Diet analysis

Dr Evangeline Mantzioris advises against extreme dieting. Picture: Matt Loxton

DR Mantzioris put the Raw Till 4 diet through analysis software FoodWorks, uncovering the nutritional value of eat a large amount of fruit during the day and a high-carbohydrate vegan meal at night. She said the results were “worrying”.

“You didn’t get any vitamin B12, your calcium intake was concerningly low, iron was marginal and selenium and iodine were quite low too,” Dr Mantzioris says.

“The fruit itself isn’t dangerous, it’s what you’re not eating that’s worrying.”

Once people reach the age of 22, they stop depositing as much calcium into their bones, meaning consumption of the mineral is extremely important.

“Calcium is important for strong bone health, so over two days on this diet you were actually losing calcium from your bones,” Dr Mantzioris says.

Selenium — which was also minimal — is an important antioxidant in the body that gets rid of free radicals that occur in the body.

“You get free radicals just by living and your body has a system of getting rid of them by consuming antioxidants,” Dr Mantzioris says.

“A quality diet provides us with selenium so if you’re not getting your daily intake, the free radicals will build up and attack lipids, which is where cancer can start.”

During the three-day diet plan, fat levels were also low. According to the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating, people should only limit their saturated fat intake.

“There’s no good evidence to show that fat intake is responsible for weight gain ... it’s the type of fat people are consuming,” Dr Mantzioris says.

“Essential fatty acids help absorb some of the nutrients when you eat a range of foods together so without fat in a meal, you’re actually missing out on a whole lot of nutrients ... it’s a matter of balance, variety and mixing.”

Sugar consumption was approximately 252g per day, which Dr Mantzioris says is the equivalent to six cans of Coca Cola.

“There’s not much difference between how the sugars are treated in your body,” she explains.

“But if you stuck to this diet and didn’t exercise, you would release more insulin to then decrease the higher blood glucose levels.

“Protein, carbohydrates and fat, if eaten above energy requirements, will be converted into fat if you’re not working it off.”

Overall, Dr Mantzioris believes these types of diets are generally not sustainable, not healthy and “certainly not enjoyable”.

“There’s this hype around raw food but the reality is you need raw and cooked food in your diet because when you cook food, nutrients are released.”