If you've made the decision to lose weight, the first question that may come to mind is how exactly you're going to achieve your goal. Many people consider crash diets because of their quick weight-loss promises, but crash diets are not a safe or effective way to lose weight. They can have many consequences, and they teach poor nutritional habits.
Nutritional Deficiencies
In order to successfully lose weight and keep it off long-term, your body needs to have a sufficient amount of vitamins and nutrients to continue running properly. When your body is lacking a certain vitamin or nutrient, it will try to compensate in some way. This process can be very harmful to your body. Crash dieting often suggests using one food or a few different foods to lose weight. There is no single food that can supplement the needs of your body, thus making crash dieting dangerous. Your body will begin to work overtime to compensate for what it is missing. Nutritional deficiencies can result in serious complications and illnesses if they go on for a long time. It is not healthy to eat the same thing every day; your body needs a balanced diet in order to maintain optimum health.
Drastic Lifestyle Changes
During the process of a crash diet you are asked to make many lifestyle changes. While crash dieting, you consume a completely different diet than normal -- and one that is not healthy for you. During this diet it is likely you'll lose energy because your body isn't being fed what it needs. When you begin to lose energy, you'll no longer have the strength to work out and every day tasks can become more difficult. Your body cannot sustain itself on a crash diet -- that is why they are designed as short-term fixes.
Detrimental Views of Nutrition
Crash diets often call for a regimented, one food, diet for several days or even weeks, so you are no longer practicing skills for long-term weight loss. Instead of teaching about how to lose weight and keep it off, crash diets give unrealistic expectations for a temporary weight loss solution. As you fall back into your typical eating habits after the crash diet, you will likely regain any weight you lost. Crash dieting doesn't teach the values of proper nutrition so you may never know what it means to eat healthy. Crash dieters have a skewed belief of what nutrition is and how to achieve proper nutrition.
Safety
Completing a crash diet is not a safe or effective way to lose weight. It can cause a number of side effects, such as hair loss, mood fluctuation, lack of energy, and poor sleep. Consult with your physician before beginning a new diet plan. Your doctor can assist you in healthy choices to lose weight safe and effectively. There are links in the Resources section to find healthy diet tips.
References
- American Heart Association: Quick-Weight-Loss or Fad Diets
- HelpGuide.org: Eating Right to Look and Feel Your Best
- UMM.edu: Weight Loss: A Personal Story
- MayoClinic.com: Weight loss: Better to cut calories or exercise more?
- MayoClinic.com: Obesity: Treatments and Drugs
- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition: A Behavioral Approach to Obesity
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