I did the whole 30 and only lost 2 lbs

Gluten free worked for me in the sense that I have an autoimmune disorder and bloodwork consistently shows that it has a positive impact on the chronic inflammatory process going on in my body.

In terms of weight loss? No.

I did Paleo and loved it. Don't know why I stopped. Got lazy I guess. I did high cholesterol though, which was weird because I work out so much and am relatively small.

I gave up wheat a few years ago and lost 10 lbs in a month. Then some other stuff happened and I started eating it again. I felt terrible and gave it up again but this time, post surgical menopause, I didn't lose any weight.

See a nutritionist. They can review pros and cons specific to you based on lifestyle. Often insurance will pay if your GP refers you.

Anecdotally, I've heard of people who have screwed up their thyroid doing low carb. I've also heard from plenty of people who do paleo for autoimmune issues and it doesn't help. Also, others who do paleo for autoimmune issues and it does help.

If there's a particular issue that may be helped by one of these diets, it may be worth a try. But it may not help you.

I never did full-on paleo or primal, but low carb definitely worked for me. I lost about 50 pounds doing Weight Watchers. Back when I did it, your food points were calculated based on calories, fat, carbs and fiber. So, foods with low fiber were more points. This motivated me to cut way, way back on carbs and to restrict them to only whole grains. That along with portion control worked great.

Paleo worked for me. Chronic acne and bloating gone. Lost weight and I am sleeping so well after having insomnia most of my life.

I eat a low carb, high fat diet that is similar to paleo. Also similar to atkins.

I was 136 when I started 2 months ago and am now at my high school weight of 125. My belly isn't bloated anymore and I've totally lost my muffin top.

I am inspired by the journalist Gary Taubes, who argues that carbohydrates are driving our obesity/overweight problems and that the idea that our weight is the product of thermodynamics (calories in vs. calories expended) is false. He says insulin is the hormone that regulates fat storage and insulin is triggered by carbs.

So anyway, that's just where I'm coming from.

Good luck to you, OP!

My kid is a diagnosed celiac, so going gluten free does work wonders for her: no more constant stomach aches, and her eczema and distended belly went away.

Didn't really notice a difference for the rest of us, though admittedly the rest of us are only GF by default (easier to just feed everybody the same thing) so aren't as strict outside the home.

What I've noticed from friends who have hopped on the paleo & gluten free fads is that the reason they lose weight is because they are actually eating properly portioned meals.

I lost a significant amount of weight by implementing strict portion controls and by eating as little processed food as possible.

I did the whole 30 in an attempt to address a skin issue. No luck, but I lost 9 pounds so at least it wasn't a total waste of time.

I don't know if it's a fallacy. I'm sure some diets work for some people. However, I have immune issues and have tried gluten free and dairy free diets and neither made one iota of difference. I was actually disappointed - I was hoping something, however extreme, would work. But it didn't. The good thing is I'm back to eating regular foods!

Please look up the definitions of psychosomatic, placebo, etc.

Has anybody tried a specific diet rigorously, like 30 days paleo for example, and found no improvement at all?
Or going gluten free, for kids behavior, or for acne, or whatever, and didn't work at all?

I only find websites that say these things work wonders, but nobody actually says it is all a fallacy.