Weight influences more than just physical appearance. Failing to achieve and remain at a healthy weight can put your health and life in danger. Although health professionals have not determined the exact magic number that equals a healthy weight, most agree people should strive for a body mass index -- a measurement that indicates amount of body fat -- no higher than 25. Going above that mark typically demonstrates a need to lose weight.
Significance of Low-Calorie Diets
People who carry around too much weight usually have a body mass index above 25; they are considered overweight if the measurement is 25 to 29.9 and obese if it is 30 or over. These high measurements can increase your risk of developing various medical problems, ranging from diabetes and infertility to cardiovascular disease and death. To avoid the health dangers associated with being overweight and obese, health practitioners often suggest losing weight through dietary therapy. Such treatment consists of going on a diet such as a low-calorie diet or a very low calorie diet.
Low-Calorie Diets
Dietary therapy is designed to help overweight and obese people change their eating habits in order to lose weight at a moderate yet safe pace. Also known as LCDs, low-calorie diets typically allow 1,000 to 1,200 calories per day for women and 1,200 to 1,500 calories each day for men. People on LCDs are frequently able to lose approximately 8 percent of their weight in about six months, explains the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The weight loss is normally three-quarters fat and one-quarter lean tissue.
Very Low Calorie Diets
Unlike LCDs, very low calorie diets, or VLCDs, are designed to achieve rapid weight loss. Such diets sometimes allow as few as 250 calories daily, although around 800 calories every day is more common. The people who follow VLCDs are most often extremely overweight to the point of morbid obesity. While VLCDs can enable you to lose as much as 5 pounds each week, the low number of calories is unhealthy, especially if you do not take supplements to correct nutrient deficiencies, and comparable to starving yourself. It is also difficult to maintain a VCLD in the long-term.
Considerations
One apparent advantage of VLCDs is their ability to lead to rapid weight loss. People on VLCDs lose more weight during the early stages of such diets than people on LCDs, explains the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. A significant disadvantage of VLCDS, however, is that the initial weight loss is typically not permanent. Consequently, people on VLCDs tend to regain the original weight lost and then some, partly because they are unable to continue following the severe eating habits. In addition, after about one year, people on LCDs eventually lose just as much weight as people on VLCDs do initially.
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