Why are Crash Diets Bad?

It is not surprising that many people wonder why fad diets are bad when they seem to get results. You will find many sites on the internet claiming significant weight loss in just a few days. However, this type of weight loss is always temporary. It is usually 90% water which will be put straight back on as soon as your body rehydrates, which it must do if you are not going to suffer severe health problems.

Any eating or exercise pattern that causes you to eat fewer calories than you burn will lead to weight loss. However, some diets lead to a rapid weight loss that is quickly regained when normal eating resumes. Others may cause you to miss out on essential nutrients. Still others promote eating habits that may lead to high intakes of saturated fat and cholesterol, possibly increasing the risk for heart disease and some types of cancer.

What is a crash diet?

A "crash diet" is a type of diet that aims to produce very rapid weight loss in an extremely short period of time, often in around 3-7 days. Crash diets almost always operate on extreme calorie restriction.

What are the effects of Crash diet?

Here are the effects that crash dieting can have on your body and on your health:

• Harder to lose fat: When you crash diet, your body goes into starvation mode and it stores your fat and burns your muscle. Your muscle burns calories, so when your fat is stored up, it makes it harder to lose weight when the muscle is lacking. Muscle also gives you lean long lines and fat gives you that dimpled effect.

• Lowered metabolism: Along with loss of muscle, the lack of calories in your diet results in a lowered metabolism. It is vital to eat five to six small meals per day so that your metabolism is kept fed. The starvation mode makes your metabolism go into an almost sleep-like state.

• Gallstones: Crash dieting has been linked to the development of gallstones. With the change involved with the lack of nutrients to your body, your bile slats and cholesterol get out of whack and you end up with the potential to develop gallstones.

• Psychological effect: Crash diets are extremely hard on your overall mental and emotional health. Not only do crash diets cause extreme food cravings, but they can also wreak havoc with your mood: you may find yourself feeling more irritable or depressed than usual when you are on a crash diet. Crash diets can also set people up for serious mental health disorders, particularly eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia.

• Harm vital organs: Crash diets are extremely dangerous for your vital organs, including your heart, kidneys, liver, and brain. In order to perform their daily functions, your vital organs rely on energy from your carbohydrate intake. During strict crash diets, carbohydrate and calorie intake is so low that your organs cannot get enough energy from these sources. As a result, your organs begin to burn muscle tissue in order to get adequate amounts of energy to perform vital functions. This can result in serious health problems.

• Dehydration: Everyone knows that your body requires lots of water, so when you deprive your body of food, you end up depriving your body of much needed water. Many foods are rich in water content, like fruits, and when they are lacking from your diet, dehydration can set in.

• Osteoporosis: Long-term crash dieters frequently suffer from osteoporosis, a disease that causes the bones in your body to become extremely brittle. This is because fast crash diets severely limit your intake of calcium. As a result, calcium begins to leach out of the bones in your body, leaving them particularly fragile. Many crash dieters suffer broken bones, particularly hips and wrists, as a result of their osteoporosis.

• Hair loss: Longterm crash dieting can result in hair loss. Due to the lack of vitamins and minerals that your body receives through a healthy diet, your hair can become terribly brittle and fall out. Food is rich in vitamins and minerals, and when you keep them away from your body, it effects your hair, nails, and even the color of your skin.

What should I do?

With a balanced eating plan, it's what you leave in that makes all the difference. For a balanced eating plan to be successful, you need to:

• Eat plenty of vegetables, legumes and fruits;
• Eat plenty of cereals (including breads, rice, pasta and noodles), preferably wholegrain;
• Include lean meat, fish, poultry or alternatives;
• Include milks, yoghurts, cheeses or alternatives;
• Drink plenty of water;
• Limit saturated fat and moderate total fat intake;
• Choose reduced fat varieties of foods where possible;
• Choose foods low in salt;
• Limit your alcohol intake, if you choose to drink;
• Consume only moderate amounts of sugars and foods containing added sugars.

Starving yourself to lose weight is not enjoyable and takes the fun out of eating. Eating should be enjoyable not stressful. The only way to lose weight is to do it slowly, with a balanced diet.

Forget crash diets and lose weight the right way!