Mindful eating is deliberate, nonjudgmental attention to the experience of eating, and it has no food list and nothing to count. It is promoted as a way to enjoy food, notice hunger and fullness, and eat less on autopilot; it is not a diet and not a weight-loss method.

Intuitive eating is a framework of 10 principles for eating in response to hunger, fullness, and satisfaction rather than diet rules, created by two registered dietitians in 1995. It is promoted as a way to make peace with food and leave dieting behind; its authors say it is not a diet and not a weight-loss method.

Short programs and products, among them juice cleanses, the Master Cleanse, detox teas and colon cleansing, that are sold as ways to rid the body of toxins. They are promoted for weight loss, energy and general health, and the studies reviewed do not establish that these programs increase toxin elimination from the body.

A clinical method in which a specific food or group of foods is removed for a set period and then brought back, to see whether a reaction follows. Clinicians use it to diagnose some food allergies and to treat a few conditions, above all eosinophilic esophagitis; it is also sold to the public with food sensitivity tests.

Eating plans that replace ordinary meals with nutritionally complete formula products, or a small measured set of foods, for a fixed number of weeks, followed by a planned return to everyday food. They are a supervised medical treatment, used mainly to put early type 2 diabetes into remission or to bring about rapid weight loss before surgery.

A way of eating that removes gluten, a protein in wheat, barley and rye. For people with celiac disease it is the medical treatment, lifelong and strict; many other people follow it for reasons the research has not borne out.

A 3-step eating plan that first cuts back a group of poorly absorbed carbohydrates called FODMAPs, then adds them back one group at a time to learn which ones a person tolerates. It is used mainly to ease the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome after a clinician has diagnosed it, and its strict first step is meant to last weeks, not a lifetime.

Plans that swap one or more ordinary meals a day, most often 1 or 2, for a shake, a bar or a packaged meal with a known number of calories, while keeping some ordinary food. They are sold mainly for weight loss and for keeping lost weight off.

A commercial weight-loss program in which most meals are replaced by the company's packaged products, called Fuelings, with one or more self-made meals and support from an independent coach who sells the products. In July 2026 the company renamed it Trilivy and now markets it for what it calls metabolic health.

A paid smartphone program that sets a daily calorie range, sorts foods by color according to how many calories they carry for their weight, and adds short psychology-based lessons, food and weight logging, and coaching by chat. It is sold for weight loss, and the same company now also offers prescription weight-loss medication through a service called Noom Med.

A paid program that gives each member a personal budget of Points for food, with an app, group workshops led by the company's own coaches and, in the United States, an optional telehealth service that can prescribe weight-loss medicines. It is sold for weight loss and healthier eating, and its group-meeting versions have been tested in several randomized trials.

A branded 30-day program that removes added sugar, alcohol, grains, most legumes and dairy, then brings those foods back one group at a time. It is sold as a way to find foods that cause symptoms and to change habits, and the company that runs it says it is not a weight-loss diet.

A way of eating in which all food and drink with calories is eaten within the same window of hours each day, often 8 to 10 hours, with no calories for the rest of the day. It is promoted mainly for weight loss and blood sugar control, and sometimes for keeping meals in step with the body clock.

A family of eating patterns that set when a person eats, or on which days they eat very little, rather than which foods they eat. Common versions are time-restricted eating, such as 16:8, the 5:2 pattern and alternate-day fasting, and they are promoted mainly for weight loss and blood sugar control.

The carnivore diet is a way of eating made up almost entirely of animal foods, mainly red meat, with eggs, animal fats and, in many versions, fish and dairy, and with fruit, vegetables, grains, beans, nuts and seeds removed. It is promoted online for weight loss, blood sugar, digestion, inflammation, autoimmune conditions and mental clarity.

A way of eating built on meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruit and nuts that leaves out grains, dairy foods, legumes, added sugar, added salt and processed foods. Its promoters say it matches the food humans evolved on before farming and that it prevents the chronic diseases of modern life.

A low-carbohydrate eating plan that began with Robert Atkins's 1972 book and is now sold by a food company in 3 versions, starting at about 20, 40 or 100 grams of net carbohydrate a day. It is promoted mainly for weight loss and for blood sugar control.

A way of eating so low in carbohydrate and so high in fat that the body switches to burning ketones, made from fat, for much of its fuel. It is a prescribed medical treatment for epilepsy that has not responded to medication, and, separately, a popular diet followed for weight loss, blood sugar and general health.

A way of eating that leaves out meat and poultry but includes fish and other seafood, usually along with eggs and dairy foods. People choose it for health, ethical, environmental or cultural reasons, and the American Heart Association lists it among the eating patterns that can support heart health.

An eating pattern built mostly or entirely on whole and minimally processed plant foods: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. It is defined by the quality of the food more than by one rule about animal foods, and its promoters present it as a way to prevent chronic disease and, in clinical programs, to treat it.