Is the baby food diet healthy

What Is It, and Can You Lose Weight?

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

Health Conditions
- Featured
  - Breast Cancer
  - IBD
  - Migraine
  - Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
  - Rheumatoid Arthritis
  - Type 2 Diabetes
- Articles
  - Acid Reflux
  - ADHD
  - Allergies
  - Alzheimer's & Dementia
  - Bipolar Disorder
  - Cancer
  - Crohn's Disease
  - Chronic Pain
  - Cold & Flu
  - COPD
  - Depression
  - Fibromyalgia
  - Heart Disease
  - High Cholesterol
  - HIV
  - Hypertension
  - IPF
  - Osteoarthritis
  - Psoriasis
  - Skin Disorders and Care
  - STDs
Discover
- Wellness Topics
  - Nutrition
  - Fitness
  - Skin Care
  - Sexual Health
  - Women's Health
  - Mental Well-Being
  - Sleep
- Product Reviews
  - Vitamins & Supplements
  - Sleep
  - Mental Health
  - Nutrition
  - At-Home Testing
  - CBD
  - Men’s Health
- Original Series
  - Fresh Food Fast
  - Diagnosis Diaries
  - You’re Not Alone
  - Present Tense
- Video Series
  - Youth in Focus
  - Healthy Harvest
  - No More Silence
  - Future of Health
Plan
- Health Challenges
  - Mindful Eating
  - Sugar Savvy
  - Move Your Body
  - Gut Health
  - Mood Foods
  - Align Your Spine
- Find Care
  - Primary Care
  - Mental Health
  - OB-GYN
  - Dermatologists
  - Neurologists
  - Cardiologists
  - Orthopedists
- Lifestyle Quizzes
  - Weight Management
  - Am I Depressed? A Quiz for Teens
  - Are You a Workaholic?
  - How Well Do You Sleep?
- Tools & Resources
  - Health News
  - Find a Diet
  - Find Healthy Snacks
  - Drugs A-Z
  - Health A-Z
Connect
- - Breast Cancer
  - Inflammatory Bowel Disease
  - Psoriatic Arthritis
  - Migraine
  - Multiple Sclerosis
  - Psoriasis

Medically reviewed by Jillian Kubala, MS, RD, Nutrition — By Daniel Yetman — Updated on Oct 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:

Healthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. We avoid using tertiary references. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

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

Copy Edited By

Copy Editors

Nov 11, 2019

Written By

Aimee Eyvazzadeh, MD, MPH

Edited By

Maggie Brown

Medically Reviewed By

Carissa Stephens, RN, CCRN, CPN

Share this article

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

Can baby food help in weight loss?

Nutrition

Opting for a baby food diet surely sounds weird, but you will be shocked to know that your favourite celebs have been obsessing about it.

The baby food diet might not be as fascinating as it may sound. Image courtesy: Shutterstock

Nikita Bhardwaj Published on: 6 Apr 2022, 09:00 am IST

Listen to this article

There was a time when your favourite celebs like Jennifer Aniston, Lady Gaga, and many others were obsessing about the baby food diet. The reason? Weight loss! Apparently, some of them got some good results but they couldn’t sustain it.

So, before you get all excited about opting for a baby food diet to lose weight, we would like you to know some crucial things about it. According to nutritionists, it is nothing but a fad.

What’s a baby food diet?

If we talk about a baby food diet, it simply involves replacing normal meals with baby food. And that includes fruits and vegetable purees and a few meat gravies made out of chicken, turkey, etc. One can make baby foods at home which may also include rice and dal puree in addition to fruits and veggies.

Baby food will not keep your energise. Image courtesy: Shutterstock

All this food is low on calories. There is almost zero sugar, fats, or any salt and that makes it great for weight loss. But as per renowned nutritionist Parul Malhotra, this kind of diet is neither sustainable nor a healthy way of losing weight.

“The only benefit of having baby food is it is low on fat and on calories, helps with easy portion control and requires minimal cooking and is less time consuming if depending on store-bought baby food jars,” says Parul.

In fact, Parul listed some side effects that can happen due to a restrictive diet plan. Here are some of them:

1. Not sustainable
2. Costly
3. Low calories thus can make you feel low on energy.
4. Low on protein and fiber which can lead to low satiety levels and eventually cravings.
5. Severely restrictive. This can lead to nutrient deficiencies and develop an unhealthy relationship with food.

To lose wieght, a proper diet makes a lot of sense. Image courtesy: Shutterstock

What does a baby food diet plan look like?

Here’s what you consume if you opt for a baby food diet:

“As many as 14 jars of pureed baby food of all types including fruits, vegetables, and meats distributed amongst breakfast, lunch, and evening snack,” says Parul.
One regular adult meal per day (at dinner) should be consumed, emphasizing protein and complex carbohydrates.
Water, tea, and coffee are allowed.The thing is that this kind of food is not enough to fuel an adult. Also, diet is not the only thing that will help you lose weight, you also need to include a fitness regime. And to fuel your exercise regime you need to add a proper meal that is balanced. Another thing is that this kind of diet will also lead to major fatigue and can also impact your overall productivity. A fad diet like this can, later on, lead to emotional eating which can further lead to eating disorders and weight gain.
That’s why most nutritionists are not a big fan of the baby food diet.
Also, read: Not all fats are bad! Add these 5 healthy fat foods to your diet
These people should never ever opt for a baby food diet
Ideally, no one should do this kind of fad diet. Specifically, people with any pre-medical conditions, pregnant and lactating women should not consider it at all.
Balanced diet is your key to healthy living.
“Bottom line is for a sustainable and healthy weight loss nothing works better than eating a well-balanced diet with a mindful approach along with regular exercise and a good sleeping pattern,” suggests Parul.

Mindful eating is what you need if you really want to keep your weight in check. So for better results, see your nutritionist or dietician right away and get your diet tailor-made as everyone’s nutritional needs are different.

diet

About the Author

Nikita Bhardwaj

Six-pack abs are all that Nikita needs, along with her daily dose of green tea. At Health Shots, she produces videos, podcasts, stories, and other kick-ass content. ...Read More

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

the truth about what is in the ingredients.

- Ekaterina Borisovna, there is a lot of debate about the benefits of baby food from a jar. Let's try to confirm or dispel the myths and tell parents the whole truth about children's canned products.

Myth #1. Baby food in jars is made from vegetables and fruits that are not suitable for sale in their natural form. Raw materials of poor quality underlie it.

- Not true. The production of canned baby food is a complex technological process consisting of several mandatory steps, including a careful selection of raw materials. The quality and safety of baby food initially depends on this.

When sorting , all vegetables and fruits with any defects are utilized, and a batch of raw materials of uniform quality is formed.
Sorting includes:

visual assessment of raw materials;
removal of non-standard, immature, moldy and broken fruits. Grouping by size and weight is not carried out: these indicators do not affect the quality of finished baby food.

When cleaning raw materials , all inedible and low-nutrient parts are removed from fruits and vegetables - the skin, seeds, stalks, the core is removed from apples and pears. Parents can be sure that their baby will receive only the most useful and nutritious.

Myth No. 2: The quality of baby food in jars is doubtful - it contains a lot of preservatives that are dangerous for babies.

- The inclusion of preservatives in baby food is prohibited by law , at least in our country. But the use of vitamin D or ascorbic acid is allowed. They do not harm babies, but significantly increase the benefits of the product.

- Ekaterina Borisovna, however, it is known that without preservatives, the shelf life of products is reduced.

— The long shelf life of baby food without preservatives is ensured by aseptic production technology, product sterilization and vacuum packaging, which protects it from harmful microorganisms. The cotton that we hear when opening the jar is an indicator of the correct packaging and safety of the product.

Myth #3. There are other unnatural ingredients in canned food without preservatives that can be harmful to a child's health.

- The complete composition of baby food must be clearly stated by the manufacturer on the packaging. Corn starch or rice flour can be added as safe thickeners to give the desired consistency. But the range of children's canned food allows you to choose products without these additives. The presence of spices is not forbidden, but their list is limited and strictly regulated.

It is forbidden to include technological substances to impart aroma and enhance color and taste.

Myth #4. Flavor enhancers are added to canned food, otherwise children refuse to eat it.

- Production technologies allow extracting the maximum of useful elements from raw materials and at the same time preserving its taste. For example, , in order not to destroy biologically active substances, raw materials for baby puree are not boiled , but in order to obtain a delicate texture and not spoil the taste, it is wiped in special mashing machines in an atmosphere of steam or inert gases. Such subtleties of production explain the unique taste of canned puree, which you cannot get at home on your own.

Myth #5.

Canned baby food is expensive and costs parents more than homemade purees.

— Seasonal harvest is inexpensive, making mashed potatoes seems like an elementary task. But there are few fruits of our own in our country. Harvesting a year in advance is a difficult and costly business (you will need a capacious freezer). Preserving vegetables is even more difficult, you need at least a basement. In addition, the amount of vitamins with this method of harvesting decreases in proportion to the storage time (autumn apples lose most of their useful properties by spring).

— Fruit and vegetable sections are filled in stores all year round.

Yes, but children need variety in their diet. Today an apple, tomorrow a pear, the day after tomorrow an apricot. For example, to prepare 100 g of apricot puree, you will need at least 300 g of apricots without peel and stone. For the price, this is comparable to the price of a jar, but you still need time to buy and cook.

And the most important thing is safety. At the plant, raw materials for baby food are thoroughly tested for the content of toxic substances. The standards for the content of pesticides, nitrates and other chemical additives for sale in the store are different, and no one guarantees that the zucchini bought from the grandmother on the market did not grow in the zone of increased radiation or was not fed with nitrogenous fertilizers. Therefore industrial canned puree is safer than , and at a price that's about what it comes out to be.

Myth #6. There are few vitamins and nutrients in a jar of complementary foods, as they are destroyed during the conservation process.

— Vegetables and fruits are full of healthy nutrients during the harvest season. But during long-term storage, they lose almost everything except fiber and starch. In addition to this, the fruits are irrevocably destroyed during heat treatment at home - for example, during cooking, up to 20% of vitamin B and more than 50% of ascorbic acid are lost.

The picture is quite different in the factory production of complementary foods, when the useful properties of the raw materials are preserved to the maximum. In addition, complementary foods can be additionally saturated with vitamins and trace elements. Food packaging always indicates their presence and the percentage of the daily dose.

Myth #7. Food from a jar provokes the development of allergies.

- The risk of developing an allergic reaction to food in a jar is no higher than to food prepared by oneself. If a child is allergic to pumpkin, then boiled, steamed and canned, there will be a reaction to it. Another question is that an auxiliary component of canned puree (for example, starch or ascorbic acid) can cause allergies. In this case, it is safer to choose products without such additives.

Often confused with allergies food intolerance . The symptoms are similar, but the reasons for the latter lie in non-compliance with the rules of complementary foods (for example, they gave a new product ahead of schedule or immediately in large quantities). Without knowing it, mothers expose the child's body to excessive stress when the baby's enzyme system is not yet ready to process the edible "gift". For this reason, the child's body becomes covered with a rash, problems with the tummy, regurgitation and other delights appear.

Complementary foods: what you need to know

It's worth trying a new product in small quantities.
The daily dose is increased gradually.
Red cheeks, rashes on the arms and under the knees - a reason to exclude the product from the child's diet and consult a doctor.

Myth #8. There are many counterfeits of baby food on the market, and products of well-known brands are more often counterfeited. Parents in the store will not be able to distinguish a fake from the original.

— Control over the quality of nutrition for children is multifaceted and is carried out at all stages - from the procurement of raw materials to the sale in the store. Compliance with safety standards during production and storage, the usefulness of the product in terms of protein, carbohydrate and fat components, the concentration of vitamin elements and other components declared on the package are monitored. Organoleptic testing determines the quality of products by taste, aroma, appearance, consistency.

Unfortunately, despite the rather strict control, information about reviews from the sale of low-quality baby food periodically pops up. Probably, this cannot be avoided, as well as the falsification of medicines and other goods. But you can protect yourself as much as possible from acquiring fakes.

How to choose quality baby food in jars

It is better to buy food in large specialized stores, pharmacies.
Consider value for money. If the price is significantly lower than usual, do not rush to buy an annual supply, study the composition and the certificate of conformity for the product.
Inspect the packaging carefully. Do not take a damaged package with traces of worn paint, smeared or blurry letters, a swollen or crumpled jar.
Always try a new product before giving it to a child. You can easily distinguish changes in taste, smell, texture.

Myth #9. Manufacturers add starch to thickening canned food, but they do not always report this on the packaging. This is true? And will the iodine test show the presence of starch?

— In stores, a wide range of baby purees with and without starch is quite wide. A significant component of starch is glucose , the main source of our vital energy. Starch is often a natural product. In nature, there are many plants and products from which starch can be extracted: potato, corn, rice and wheat are widely known.

The debate about the dangers or benefits of starch can go on forever. Children are able to absorb starch from birth, it's all about its volume. A small amount of thickener in baby food will be absorbed by the child. Harmful daily proportion of starch - from 30 g.

Starch is included in 90% of the food that a person consumes in everyday life. You should not be afraid of it, but you need to be careful, because starch:

with excessive use and individual tendency causes constipation;
is capable of provoking an allergic reaction;
increases the calorie content of food and promotes weight gain;
contains a lot of carbohydrates, but is useless as a source of vitamins.

Therefore, if a child has a tendency to allergic reactions, overweight or constipation, you should not use food with the addition of starch. Children with underweight or unstable stools may well try it.

Reaction with iodine - a qualitative reaction to starch with the formation of a dark blue spot. This is a really affordable method of checking baby food. But before using it, you should study which products contain starch. It is possible that a positive reaction will not be on an artificially added component, but on natural starch. A lot of natural starch in potatoes, corn, legumes, carrots, zucchini, pumpkin, banana and unripe apples. And it is natural that the reaction with iodine in the puree of these products will be positive. But in the composition of mashed broccoli or white cabbage, starch should not be, unless the manufacturer specifically added it.

Myth #10. The child gets used to eating from a jar and for a long time refuses the "adult" table.

- Opposite. Children in infancy and under 18 months are not allowed to give sugar, salt, seasonings and spices. Therefore, until the mother has included these “adult” supplements in her child’s diet, purchased food will remain his favorite food. But having tried salty or sweet once, the baby begins to demand a new product and refuse fresh canned food.

A child and an adult have a different perception of tastes. Therefore, you can not give the baby a dish that you like to taste, sweeten and add salt to food. When the time comes and the child is ready to receive products close to the common table, he himself will gladly refuse fresh jars, trying more and more new tastes.

— Ekaterina Borisovna, can canned baby food completely replace homemade baby food?

— Of course, and quite successfully. Regardless of the season, it is possible to provide the baby with a complete and varied diet only with the help of canned food. Yes, and it is impossible to repeat the taste of factory food on your own due to the special manufacturing technology. In addition, despite the fact that the assortment of fruits and vegetables in the store is quite large even in winter, their taste and useful properties, and most importantly, safety, are very doubtful. Of course, it is worth remembering about the time that a mother can devote to a baby, instead of puzzling over the variety of menus and cooking.

— Why are MAMAKO ^® baby purees good for children? What are their advantages?

— Very often, kids get bored with the taste of monocomponent puree, and not everyone eats cottage cheese willingly either. Puree MAMAKO ^® consists of fruits and tender goat curd without thickeners, preservatives or other artificial additives. Such a puree with a delicate creamy taste can be introduced into the diet from 6 months, it is more nutritious and serves as an additional source of calcium, which is necessary during the period of intensive growth. Therefore, along with monocomponent purees, I always recommend including such interesting, and most importantly - without sugar and thickeners, healthy products in the child's diet.

I would like to once again appeal to young parents - be above prejudice. Canned food is simple, convenient, useful and safe. We all use the achievements of progress for our comfort: cellular communications, microwave ovens, all kinds of gadgets have firmly entered our lives.

Is the baby food diet healthy