Benefits of baby food for adults

What Is It, and Can You Lose Weight?

Baby Food Diet: What Is It, and Can You Lose Weight?

Medically reviewed by Jillian Kubala, MS, RD, Nutrition — By Daniel Yetman — Updated on October 31, 2020

The baby food diet involves replacing breakfast, lunch, and snacks with 14 containers of baby food. You then eat a regular dinner in the evening. The diet is meant to last for 3 days.

The baby food diet gained popularity around 2010. It’s rumored that actress Jennifer Aniston, with the help of her celebrity trainer, used the diet to lose 7 pounds in a week during the filming of the movie “Just Go with It.”

The idea of losing a pound per day may sound tempting, but the baby food diet fits into the category of a fad diet.

Many fad diets might help you lose weight in the short term, but they’re usually difficult to follow for an extended period of time.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what exactly the baby food diet is, as well as the pros and cons of this eating plan.

The premise behind the diet is that the small portion sizes of baby food will reduce your daily calorie intake. The bland taste of pureed baby food is also supposed to discourage you from overeating.

There are several less restrictive versions of the diet, like replacing only one meal a day with baby food.

Compared to many fad diets, the baby food diet has loose guidelines. For instance:

The diet plan doesn’t specify which type of baby food you can eat. The calorie content in baby food can vary from about 20 calories to more than 120 calories per jar.
It doesn’t put a limitation on what you can eat for dinner.

Here’s an example of what an average day might look like on the baby food diet.

Breakfast: 5 jars of baby food
Lunch: 5 jars of baby food
Afternoon snack: 2 jars of baby food
Dinner: your regular dinner
Evening snack: 2 jars of baby food

Most reports of weight loss on the baby food diet are anecdotal. According to people who’ve tried it, it can help you lose weight in the short term.

However, there’s currently no scientific evidence to back up these claims or to prove it’s an effective diet for long-term weight loss.

Replacing your usual meals with baby food will likely lower the number of calories you eat per day, which is probably one of the main reasons why you may lose weight while you’re on this diet.

But research suggests that restricting calories alone is rarely an effective method for reducing body weight. When you lower your calorie intake, your body’s metabolism tends to slow down, too. You may also feel hungrier than usual if you aren’t getting enough calories.

Because this diet typically lowers your intake of fiber and sodium, the weight you lose may be from water retention and not necessarily from fat.

Research also shows that the weight that’s lost on calorie-restrictive diets is usually regained when you return to your usual eating habits.

In theory, it’s possible to get most of your essential nutrients while following the baby food diet. Many baby foods are made from pureed fruits and vegetables. Some baby foods are also made from high-protein foods or whole grains.

Following the baby food diet for the recommended 3 days likely won’t hurt you. But following this diet for a longer period of time could lead to nutrient deficiencies if you’re eating far below your daily calorie need.

With restrictive diets like the baby food diet, it’s also important to keep in mind the risk of developing disordered eating, which could lead to an eating disorder if the diet is followed for a longer period of time.

Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of the baby food diet.

Pros

High in fruits and vegetables. Most baby foods are made from pureed fruits and vegetables.
Low in sodium. Most baby foods are low in sodium. Babies have a lower sodium requirement than adults.
Low in fat. Most baby foods are low in saturated fat.
No preparation. Besides your evening meal, there’s no meal prep necessary. Just open a jar and eat.

Cons

Restrictive. The baby food diet lacks the calories and nutrients you need to properly fuel your body.
Not filling. Most baby foods are low in protein and fiber. You may find that you feel hungry even when consuming adequate calories.
Low in fiber. You’ll get a lot more fiber from eating fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, rather than from food that’s been pureed.
Expensive. Most baby foods are fairly expensive per serving.
Large variation in calories between brands. The number of calories in a container of baby food varies from about 20 to 120 calories. Eating 14 containers per day could provide you with anywhere from 280 to 1,680 calories.

Following the baby food diet may help you quickly shed a few pounds, but it’s unlikely to cause sustainable weight loss.

Instead, a healthier strategy for long-term weight loss is to:

Eat a balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low fat dairy, lean protein, and healthy fats.
Limit your intake of foods and drinks that are high in added sugars.
Focus on portion control. Resist eating more than you need to satisfy your hunger.
Exercise regularly, at least 150 minutes a week.
Don’t skip meals.

If you’re looking to quickly lose a few pounds, the baby food diet may help you achieve results. But if you’re looking for sustainable, long-term weight loss, it’s far from ideal.

The baby food diet falls into the category of fad diets. These types of diets often promise rapid weight loss and include a strict list of foods you can and can’t eat.

Containers of baby food are relatively low calorie, but research has shown that restricting too many calories can slow down your metabolism. This means that as soon as you go back to eating normal meals, you’ll likely put the weight back on.

A safer and healthier option for long-term weight loss is to follow a balanced eating plan that includes all food groups, while also keeping an eye on your portion sizes, and including regular exercise in your weight loss program.

Last medically reviewed on October 31, 2020

How we reviewed this article:

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Benton D, et al. (2017). Reducing calorie intake may not help you lose body weight. DOI:
10.1177/1745691617690878
Fad diets. (2017).
my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/9476-fad-diets
Fernández-Elías VE, et al. (2015). Relationship between muscle water and glycogen recovery after prolonged exercise in the heat in humans. DOI:
10.1007/s00421-015-3175-z
Obert J, et al. (2017). Popular weight loss strategies: A review of four weight loss techniques. DOI:
10.1007/s11894-017-0603-8
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2015). Chapter 1: Key elements of healthy eating patterns: A closer look inside healthy eating patterns. Dietary guidelines for Americans 2015-2020.
health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/chapter-1/a-closer-look-inside-healthy-eating-patterns/#food-groups

Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.

Current Version

Oct 31, 2020

Written By

Daniel Yetman

Edited By

Tracey Crate

Medically Reviewed By

Jillian Kubala, MS, RD

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Nov 11, 2019

Written By

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Medically reviewed by Jillian Kubala, MS, RD, Nutrition — By Daniel Yetman — Updated on October 31, 2020

I Ate Baby Food for An Entire Week

I held the spoon to my mouth, and I grimaced when the contents touched my tongue — warm, mushy carrots.

This was my 7-month-old son's dinner — and mine too. I would spend a week eating baby food, although it was less of a calculated effort and more of a desperate attempt to hang onto my sanity.

As a new mother who worked from home, I was unprepared for how difficult it would be to juggle both a job and an infant, often getting crapped on from everyone, everywhere. The laundry piled up to unbelievable heights. The dishes in the sink smelled like a homeland security threat. For myself, I did the bare minimum to erase the stink lines that followed me around like Pigpen in a Peanuts comic.

Courtesy of Maggie Downs

Something had to give, I realized. And that something was chewing.

I'm kidding. Chewing wasn't so much the issue. The problem was the time it took to make myself a separate meal. When the choice came down to cooking for my son and cooking for myself, it was an easy decision. He who sobs the loudest wins.

This sort of thing wasn't new for me, per se. I've done some crazy diets in the past. In college, I was the originator of the Beef Jerky Diet, which sprained my jaw before I ever lost any weight. (No wonder my diet never caught on.) I've been a raw foodist and I've tried juices. I've scrubbed my guts with gallons of cabbage soup and master cleansed with liters of lemonade. One time I ate nothing but raw macadamia nuts for three days.

When my son began eating solid foods, I decided to make all his meals from scratch. I'm a person who enjoys cooking anyway, and it was important to me to provide him with fresh, healthy produce.

When I thought about it, eating baby food wasn't a bad idea idea. After all, many of the world's most beloved foods are enjoyed in their squished form. Guacamole is perfection. Applesauce is awesome. Hummus is great. And who doesn't love mashed potatoes?

Plus, I've been enough to fancy restaurants where entrees are served atop puddles of parsnip mash or dollops of spring pea purée. This wasn't mere baby food I was creating — it was cutting-edge cuisine!

Courtesy of Maggie Downs

At first, the purées I ate were terrific, like downing super thick smoothies for every meal. And it really did save a lot of time, which otherwise would have been spent over the stove or cleaning the dishes. The bonus was that it forced me to be more creative with the things I whipped up in the blender, because I wanted to consume delicious things too. Snap peas, pears and a banana? Tasty. Sweet potatoes, cherries and vanilla? Like a party in my mouth. Fava beans and summer squash with leeks? Eh, not the worst.

After a week of baby food; however, eating became something laborious. It was no longer interesting or enjoyable. I fantasized about crunch. Chewing felt like an old friend I only vaguely remembered. I realized I was on the diet of someone who just had his wisdom teeth pulled, but for no real reason.

That's the day I decided to reverse the process: Instead of eating what my baby eats, I would simply give him what I like to eat.

It's a strategy that has worked well for us ever since, with a food repertoire that has expanded to include soft grilled eggplant, five-bean chili, rice pudding, roasted veggies of all kinds, aloo gobi and pillows of naan.

We didn't want to be those culinary snobs who go to a restaurant and just order the parsnip purée, anyway.

Maggie Downs

Maggie Downs is a journalist and essayist based in Palm Springs, CA. Her work has appeared in newspapers and magazines throughout the U.S., including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times, and in digital media such as Today.com, Outside, Smithsonian, and the BBC. She is a traveler, a book nerd, and an accidental adventurist.

Is it possible for adults to eat baby food: benefits and harms

Photo: Natalia Kurzova / Adobe Stock

Now we will talk about the benefits and harms of products made specifically for children. These include fruit and vegetable purees, juices and nectars, yoghurts and curds, cereals and various snacks for the little ones.

Pluses of baby food

No harmful ingredients

It is clear that baby food is made specifically for babies. Therefore, they do not add harmful additives, dyes, flavors, a lot of sugar and salt. Not a single ingredient in the composition should cause an allergy or any disorder in a baby - which means that such food is safe for an adult. Moreover, manufacturers are strictly looked after - all children's products undergo a thorough check, and only then they get on the shelves in stores.

Tasty and convenient

Children's curds, cereals and purees with a sweet fruity taste can easily replace high-calorie cakes and other "adult" desserts. Some may also like cookies in cute little packages.

Speaking of packaging. Kids are not physically able to eat a lot, so for them everything is laid out in small portions. And these jars and packaging are very convenient to take with you for a walk, to school or university.

Low Calorie

Children's fruit and vegetable purees, and in such tiny portions, are very, very few calories! Some stars even specifically switch to only baby food in order to lose weight. So, for example, did Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon.

Ready to follow suit? Well, slow down. Now let's talk about why you shouldn't do this.

Disadvantages of baby food

Few essential nutrients

Yes, these tasty purees contain only useful things and nothing harmful. But do not forget that this is still baby food. That is, it is made specifically for babies - taking into account the peculiarities of digestion of young children. And the body of an adult, you know, is very different. An adult needs a lot more fiber and dietary fiber - otherwise problems with the intestines will begin.

Sometimes it's not so tasty

Taste is both a plus and a minus of baby food. Sweet foods really look like a delicious dessert, but mashed vegetables and meat? We are used to cooking with all sorts of spices, which will definitely not be in the composition of dishes from a jar. In general, "adult" and "children's" food is very different in taste. You can, of course, get used to eating baby food all the time . .. But why?

Is it useful or not?

There is nothing wrong with snacking on baby food occasionally. It can be quite healthy, tasty and without extra calories. But you definitely can’t replace all breakfasts, lunches and dinners with them - in this way you will deprive yourself of important components and harm your health.

Ekaterina Migacheva, Elena Bugay

Why do adults eat baby food? What are the benefits and harms of it?

diet health Food sports medicine Harm benefit consequences causes menu weight loss weight gain effect baby food diet adults

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What is the purpose of an adult switching to baby food, who can tell him such a diet? Do those who eat baby food achieve the desired effect? What side effects does an adult face when switching to baby food? What do nutritionists say about this?

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2 answers

Do adults need baby food?

The wave of ideas for weight loss has also reached baby food. The pioneer was actress Jennifer Aniston, who, eating this product, achieved the desired result - she lost weight.

Those who want to lose the hated kilograms at any cost are hard to stop. Yes, and at first glance, the idea looks tempting, there are so many pluses that look like a worthy argument for opponents of this venture:

No need to cook, the diet of both plant and animal origin is thought out for you.
Portions are small (why not ideal for fractional meals?).
The product is more benign - does not contain GMOs, unwanted chemical additives, dyes, flavor enhancers (at least many people think so, but the latest scandals about baby food convince otherwise).

Cons of such a diet

What is the catch of using such a diet. Everything is simple. The composition and consistency of the product is designed for the immature, frankly speaking, underdeveloped child's digestive system. An adult organism requires a different load and a different quality of food. And here all the cons are obvious:

There is very little fiber in baby food , which means that the intestines begin to become lazy, the body becomes slagged, the accumulated toxins are not excreted in the right mode, the intestinal microflora is disturbed.

The amount of nutrients for an adult is extremely insufficient , a meager amount does not provide the body with the necessary vitamins and microelements serious hormonal failure, deplete muscle and bone tissue, lead to problems with the heart, liver and kidneys.

There is also a minus of a mercantile property: there is little sense, and such a "diet" will cost unreasonably expensive, which also classifies the venture risky for health as overhead.

However, there are a number of cases when adults have to eat children's food, but this is a forced and the only possible situation. We are talking about severe pathological cases: nutrition after a serious surgical intervention in the digestive system, followed by the use of chemotherapy and radiation therapy, with intestinal pathologies.

Baby food - when it's convenient

Sometimes adult baby food is very convenient. For example, if you are on the road, then this is the ideal form of food to go. Firstly, it is convenient to transport, secondly, there is no danger of poisoning because the food is sterile and hermetically sealed. If you take the usual ready-made chicken or boiled eggs on the road, then the trip may end without even starting in the nearest infectious diseases department. Agree, it's not pleasant! In addition, you do not irritate those around you with the smell of food, believe me, there is nothing pleasant when on a train, where everyone travels in cramped conditions, there are also different aromas of homemade dishes. Although these are not the same taste qualities as fried chicken, but meat purees have a decent taste, quite a pate that can be spread on bread and the price is acceptable.

Also, baby food can be useful for people with digestive problems during periods of exacerbation, when you need to adhere to a strict diet, as well as after operations or acute poisoning. Jars with baby food allow you to provide a complete diet in such cases, in addition, it does not contain any sugar or salt, which is important during a diet for medical reasons.

Baby food as a newfangled trend

The recent trend is to use baby food as part of the weight loss diet. Yes, this, as it turned out, is an effective method, and Jennifer Aniston confirms this.

It is convenient to use baby food in the diet because it is ideally adjusted in terms of fat, protein, carbohydrates and calories . But you should not sit on such a diet without a break, and there are reasons for this.