Each year the British Dietetic Association releases a list of high-profile diets people should avoid in the new year. Often the plans are made prominent by the celebrities who buy into them. But the other common thread is this: They simply don’t work.

This 2017 BDA list of fad diets to avoid includes some weird and wacky diet plans, for sure.

Fad: ‘Clean eating’

There’s nothing new or novel about this approach to dieting, and the fad allegedly has some high-profile adherents like Jessica Alba and Deliciously Ella.

The idea is to avoid all processed foods and ingest only “clean” ones by eliminating refined sugar, cooking from scratch and purchasing foods in their natural state. There are also more extreme versions of that require people to exclude gluten, grains and dairy or encourage people to eat only raw foods.

But the thing about so-called “clean” dieting, according to dietitians, is that its fundamental concept — some foods are “clean” and others are “dirty” — is concerning.

Nancy Hunt, the clinical nutrition and patient services manager at Butler Health System, said the problem with the plan revolves around it being poorly defined and malleable.

“‘Clean eating’ means different things to different people,” said Hunt, who is also a licensed dietitian nutritionist. “Sometimes it excludes food groups, which is not appropriate. But clean eating in general — food that’s more natural and not full of artificial ingredients — is a good thing, I believe.”

In some cases it can even help to create a psychoclinical condition known as orthorexia nervosa — an obsession with foods a person considers to be healthy, and the elimination of any food deemed to be otherwise.

While that may not sound like a bad thing on its face, the problem occurs when people begin to conceive of healthy foods, such as food containing whole grains, fruit and dairy, as unhealthy despite no scientific evidence to back up those beliefs.

In general, unless you have a medically diagnosed allergy or intolerance to these foods, there’s no reason to eliminate them from your diet, and doing so could lead to harmful deficiencies.

Additionally, the diets often suggest substituting products such as coconut oil and various types of syrups to sweeten foods. These products can be high in calories, are more expensive, and offer no nutritional benefit.

Fad: Diet pills

Diet pills are another fad diet that has proved so popular that it can sustain an entire industry.

The problem, of course, is that it’s downright dangerous. Many of the pills claim to be able to keep your body from producing or absorbing fat; others say they will suppress your appetite or kick your metabolism into high gear to help you shed excess pounds.

The bottom line is this: You should never take diet pills without first consulting your physician, pharmacist or dietitian.

Even regulated weight loss medications can create troublesome side effects for those who use them, and the high volume of diet pills for sale online is anything but regulated. In worst-case scenarios the pills can contain substances not approved for human consumption.

Hunt said taking pills can be an OK solution if they’re prescribed and supervised, but the root of the problem is changing your eating behaviors, and that’s something no pill can help you do.

“Again, it’s not teaching new behaviors or how to deal with the issues that you have,” Hunt said.

Fad: ‘Teatoxes’

Short for “tea detoxing,” these regimes have high-profile celebrity endorsements from performers such as Nicki Minaj. The products offer various claims: improving skin, reducing bloating, weight loss, etc.

In reality, the teas often contain excess caffeine, diuretics and other substances (such as laxatives) that aren’t safe for people to use over the long term.

The teas can be very successful in creating the impression among users that weight is being lost, but the results usually come because the substances are effective at making people shed water weight — not healthy weight loss.

“You’re going to lose weight, and it’s going to be mostly from fluid loss,” Hunt said. “It could do more harm than good in the long run.”

With the risk of side effects such as diarrhea, dehydration and various types of damage to your digestive tract, it’s a better idea to leave off the pseudo-toxic tea regimens and search for a more sustainable and safe diet plan to kick off your 2017.

Fad: The 6:1 diet

The theory behind this fad diet is simple: You can eat the way your normally would for six days each week. On the seventh day, however, you’re supposed to fast and eat nothing at all for 24 hours. The diet has a high-profile adherent in Coldplay singer Chris Martin, who has reportedly claimed it made him more creative and improved his voice.

The problem, according to dietitians, is that serious fasting must be properly managed to be effective. The more-likely result for people trying this diet is that their foodless 24 hours will create a lack of concentration, tiredness and mood swings — none of which will make them more productive.

“I don’t think it’s inherently dangerous, but it’s not a good thing to do,” Hunt said. “You’re counting on one day to balance out the rest of your week.”

Despite Martin’s claim, there’s also no evidence that it will make you more creative either. And depending on your age, health and lifestyle, going without eating for a full day can actually be dangerous.

Best case scenario: If you want to try a diet based around fasting, choose a more evidence-based plan and consult a doctor to help you design and manage it within your own lifestyle. This isn’t a one-size-fits-all type of diet plan.

Fad: Green juices

This one is just as simple as it sounds: Adherents consume “green juices” as a way to detox themselves and manage their weight. The juices are essentially smoothies or beverages made up of fruits, vegetables, powders and other ingredients. Fans claim the benefits range from detoxing to rejuvenation and weight loss.

The reality is far more simple, according to experts. The body is more than capable of “detoxing” itself without additional help from any kind of concoction your might come up with. Furthermore, adding green juice to your diet is never going to make up for the kind of poor choices people often make when it comes to food in general.

To make matters worse, people drawn in by the juicing fad often end up adding high-calorie ingredients such as avocado, nuts and coconut oil. Those things aren’t necessarily bad for your body, but the resulting “juices” often end up being calorie-intensive creations that can add up to 400 calories per glass to your diet.

If you’re eating a normal breakfast plus a calorie-bomb juice, you’re not likely to achieve your goal of losing weight.

If you want to try adding a juice regimen to your diet, the best way to go about it is to keep them small — no more than 150 milliliters (5 ounces per day) and make the vegetables and fruit a whole part of your diet rather than a blended side-cart item.

Solution: ‘Simple,

sustainable and safe’

Overall, Hunt said, people can follow three simple rules to improve their dieting experience: “It needs to be simple, sustainable and safe,” she said.

Hunt suggested seeking out U.S. News and World Report’s annual list of best diets, if you’re thinking of dropping weight in 2017. The list is organized by category, so it’s helpful when trying to figure out which diet might be best for you.

Once you do decide to try out a diet plan, she said, try and take steps like writing your food choices down, letting other people know you’re trying to change your eating habits, and working with a partner to make your healthy choices more sustainable over the long term.

You could also visit a dietitian. Professionals such as Hunt can help you take an inventory of your life and eating habits, and create a diet plan tailored to your individual situation.

“It’s not easy; losing weight is not easy. If it was, we wouldn’t have the obesity problem that we have,” Hunt said. “We live in a grab-and-go world, and we only get this one body.”