(HealthDay News) -- Fad diets may promise to help you drop pounds quickly, but they generally don't help you lose weight safely and keep it off.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics warns against diets that claim:

• To help you lose a lot of weight quickly.
• That you can eat huge amounts of certain foods, such as cabbage soup or grapefruit.
• That you should follow restrictive, rigid meal plans that don't allow for flexibility or variety.
• That you don't need to exercise to lose weight.