The 21-day diet plan

The plan has three phases. During the first three days, dieters eat nothing. For the folowing eight days, people live on "reasonable" amounts of fruits and vegetables, and then, during the last phase, they can eat as normal - but only at 60 percent satiety - and are not allowed to eat for the five hours before going to bed.

Fan Zhihong comments: This diet is quite similar to the apple diet, but more harmful. To prevent regaining weight rapidly after the three-day phase 1 fast, the method deliberately restricts intake of food in phases 2 and 3.

By setting a period of low food intake, this diet plan aims to curb the appetite and lower digestive capacity. However, prolonged low food intake and low digestive capacity will lead to malnutrition, serious loss of protein and reduced metabolic rate.

The chili and milk mix

This method claims that eating chili before meals can suppress the appetite, while capsaicin (an ingedient of chili) helps to raise the metabolic rate, and milk, eaten with chili, can help raise tolerance to spices, reduce hunger pangs and achieve satiety.