Baby Food Diet: Passing Fad or Growing Trend?

Hollywood seems to have a new diet craze every day -- high-protein, low-carb, no-carb -- you get the picture. But the latest in diet fashion has even the youngest crowd raising their eyebrows. The "baby food diet" is the latest celebrity fad to hit the home of the stars. No mystery here, it's just what its name implies -- eating baby food as a snack or to replace a regular meal during the day.

It's definitely a convenient, as well as cheap, diet. A jar can be tucked into your purse and eaten on the go, and some are even in clear plastic containers with lids. A jar of baby food typically costs around 50 cents, a lot cheaper than other healthy snacks. There are multiple flavors to choose from, so you can add a little variety to your day.

The health benefits are obvious; baby food is known for its all-natural ingredients -- that's why we feed it to babies. If you check the ingredients in a jar of carrots, you'll usually find only one: carrots. Sometimes, it may include water. So, if you're eating baby food, you're eating exactly what it says on the jar. No salt, no spices, no sugar. Because of this, it may also taste completely terrible.

True, baby food is just a pureed version of the food we eat every day, which brings us to a good point. If you want plain, all-natural carrots, why not just eat a carrot? It takes more calories to chew it and process it than it even contains, and honestly, nobody's going to look at you weird for eating one. The same can't be said if you tote a jar of Gerber to work.

I recommend trying it only as a snack, since replacing whole meals with it may only work against you. Starving yourself obviously isn't healthy, and may just leave you feeling tired and weak. Furthermore, you may eat everything in sight when you get hungry enough.

The bottom line is, if you can stomach it, it will probably work. There's nothing to lose by trying--except maybe unwanted pounds.