Bizarre New Diet Trend of the Moment: The Ice Cube Diet

By Sarah Jio, Glamour magazine

Just when you thought there couldn't be any crazier, more surprising diets on the market, another one popped up--this one touting the benefits of ice cubes for weight loss. Are you ready for this one?

I recently got an email from a publicist about Desert Labs' Ice Cube Diet. The cubes supposedly contain more than 97% of Hoodia, a plant extract that is believed to control appetite and manage food cravings. Each ice cube contains 3000 mg of crushed raw Hoodia mixed with lemon juice.

Is it safe? Like other over-the-counter herbal diet products, the FDA hasn't weighed in one way or the other, but many health experts have concerns about Hoodia, especially in such high quantities.

Dietitian Roberta Anding has spoken out against the diet, noting these strange developments. "Pfizer actually tried to develop this into a drug and stopped its clinical trials without any real explanation," she said. "And Unilever, which makes Slim-Fast, was going to make a dink with Hoodia and they also discontinued development."

Sound fishy? I think so. And I can't help but wonder: What next, the "dog food diet"?

Gals, tell me: Does a diet like this appeal to you?

P.S. Other diet trends I just can't get into: the baby food diet, and the banana diet.

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Photo Credit: Condé Nast Digital Studio