One subset of diet plans is designed to shed extra pounds through simple mathematics. Calorie restriction diets severely limit the amount of food you eat per day, forcing your body to burn fat reserves for fuel.
How It Works
Depending on your age, activity level and sex, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends consuming between 1,600 and 3,000 calories per day for adults. This generally provides enough food energy to match energy output, and maintains your weight at current levels. Low-calorie diets restrict food intake to below recommended guidelines, with some medically supervised plans containing as few as 800 calories per day. If you keep your activity levels the same, your body will need to burn its own stores of fat for energy.
Advantages
The advantage of a calorie restriction diet is simple. If you consume 1,200 calories of food but perform 1,500 calories worth of work, that extra energy has to come from somewhere. Once your body uses all the free carbohydrates from the food you eat, it enters a state called ketosis, where it breaks down fat and uses the resulting products for energy, according to the website Medical News Today.
Disadvantages
The most common pitfall of adopting a low-calorie diet is an increase in hunger and cravings, which can make sticking to the plan difficult. Other side effects can include gastrointestinal upset, fatigue as your metabolism adjusts to the new caloric intake levels, and irritability, which is most common during the initial stages of adaptation to the new diet.
Health Concerns
Any severe reduction in food intake can affect several aspects of your health. Reducing carbohydrate intake reduces blood sugar levels, which can cause fatigue, dizziness, and in extreme cases unconsciousness. Ketosis can increase the stress on organs like your liver and kidneys, and exacerbate existing health problems. If ketosis is not carefully controlled, it can even cause you to fall into a coma. Rapid weight loss can also cause gallstones as the body’s cholesterol balance changes.
Recommendations
Always discuss any weight-loss plans with your doctor before adopting a new diet. Your physician has a clear understanding of your health status and history, and can guide your choices to help you pick a plan that’s right for you. Should you choose an extreme weight loss plan, your doctor can monitor your health status and let you know whether the diet is adversely affecting your body.
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