Rating Popular Diets and Hidden  Food Allergies: How to improve your chances  of success... 

There  is a wide variety  of popular diets on  the market these days (South Beach, Atkins, Sugar Busters, Weight Watchers, and Zone). Dieters  are spoiled for choice over which diet  to choose next: Should they copy their favorite celebrity's latest diet craze? 

Perhaps they should follow  the in-crowd at work and opt for  the diet that 95% of  the workforce is currently on!  Before you can say 'cream cake' they've rushed out  and spent hundreds  of dollars on diet books along with several grocery bags full  of low-fat, low-carb,  and low-everything-else food, when  in actual fact they haven't really got a clue which diet they should be following. With regards  to the number  of diet books hitting  the shelves over recent years, AMA Spokesman  and Melbourne doctor, Rick Kausman, stated: "its mayhem what's going on out there."

As a result, many dieters end up jumping from one fad diet  to another, never really settling down into a healthy eating regime,  and probably doing themselves more harm than good. Because they don't have a clue which diet is actually likely  to be most effective for them, they continue to dip their toe into every diet doing the rounds  and ultimately end up putting on more weight than they lost. 

One way  to combat this problem is to consult  a professional and  have tests  to find out whether  you are allergic or sensitive to certain  foods or food types. It's pretty pointless throwing yourself head-first into the latest fad diet if, unbeknown  to you at the time,  you have an allergy  to one or more  of the food types upon which the diet is based. For example,  you may look in the mirror one day  and decide that your stomach looks a little on  the large side. What if  you have an allergy  to yeast  and it is actually a reaction to, say, bread that has caused  the bloating around  your stomach? You may decide to embark obliviously upon a carb-rich diet, unaware that after yet another slice of yeast-laden bread your problem is going to get worse and not better. 

The key to successful dieting  is to ensure that you select  the right diet for  you and  your body. By having tests performed for allergies  and sensitivities, you can eliminate the offensive foods from your diet plan thus gaining  a true insight into selecting a diet that will work for you. Identifying foods which are not suited  to your body will allow  you to devise a well-balanced, nutritious eating plan free of foods that will make  your diet pointless and ineffective. Food allergies / sensitivities are those which  can cause problems such as migraines, skin problems, bloating and swelling, sinus problems - even breathing disorders. Food intolerances can result  in symptoms such as sickness, diarrhea, flushes, and dips in blood pressure. 

There  are a couple  of recommended ways in which have yourself tested for  food allergies. The first  is skin-pricking: this is where a food substance is pricked into  the skin and any  reaction - such as rashes or swelling -  is noted. This test can also  be performed through the use of patches. The second way is  to have  a blood test. This can identify food allergies by checking  for the presence of certain antibodies  to particular food allergies. 

It is a sensible and worthwhile idea to get these tests done prior to starting any weight loss plan. Apart from the fact that you may be wasting your own time and money on a diet that will not work for you, it may be that you will end up exacerbating your problems by consuming foods that are unsuitable for you.