If you are trying to lose weight, you may be enticed by diets that claim they can help you lose a lot of weight in a short period of time or without a lot of effort. Many of these diets are called fad or crash diets because they aren't diets that you can follow for a lifetime and you will likely gain back any weight you lost once you are off the diet.
Identification
A fad diet often over emphasizes one particular food or food group, or it may completely forbid a food or food group. While this may help you to lose weight quickly in a short time, it is unhealthy as your body needs a balanced diet to function properly. For example, some fad diets completely forbid you to eat carbohydrates, which are grains, while other fad diets allow you to eat only a specific vegetable, such as cabbage.
Risks
There are numerous risks associated with crash and fad diets. One risk is that you are likely to gain the weight back once you are off the diet. It is also likely, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians, that you will lose muscle mass or water weight while on a fad diet instead of losing fat weight. Health risks from these diets are also possible. Heart disease, gastrointestinal upset, kidney troubles, fainting, osteoporosis, gout, nausea, high blood pressure and bad breath are some of these risks. The risk of health complications is increased if you have pre-existing health conditions.
Alternatives
In order for your body to function properly, you need to eat foods from all the major food groups, including meat and beans, vegetables, grains, fruits, milk and oils. When you want to lose weight, you need to choose healthy foods from these groups that are low in calories and fat. For example, eye of round is a better option than ground beef, and skinless chicken breast is a better choice than chicken legs.
Considerations
Many fad and crash diets don't emphasize the importance of exercise; however, exercise is a very important component to a weight loss diet. Aerobic exercise and resistance exercises help you to get and stay fit. Aerobic exercise, such as walking or swimming, done at a moderate intensity helps you to burn fat and improves your cardiovascular function. Resistance exercises, such as lifting weights, helps you to build lean muscle mass. An exercise done at moderate intensity makes you sweat. It increases your heart rate and breathing rate; however, you should still be able to hold a normal conversation.
References
- American Academy of Family Physicians: Nutrition for Weight Loss: What You Need to Know About Fad Diets
- American Heart Association: Quick-Weight-Loss or Fad Diets
- Pennsylvania State University Cooperative Extension and Outreach Nutrition Information and Resource Center: Fad Diets: Healthy or Hazardous?
- Eastern Illinois University: Fad Diets
- University of Colorado at Boulder: Recognizing Fad Diets
Member Comments