If you just eat to live, but not to live well, you may eventually suffer the effects of a poor diet. Short-term problems include weight gain, fatigue and indigestion. Potential long-term problems such as heart disease, insulin resistance and low bone density are irreversible. Your body needs a fresh supply of many nutrients every day. If you eat a limited, rather than a varied, diet that is heavy on detrimental fats, sugar and sodium, your risks for diet-related illness may be extreme.
On Your Weight
The first sign of dietary imbalance may be weight gain. Many high-calorie dishes contain large amount of sugars and fats. Too many calories become body fat when you don't burn them away through activity. This may push you into a cycle of dieting to shed pounds, which will return if you don't change your eating habits. Overweight conditions carry a greater risk for gall bladder disease, incontinence and depression, as well as a loss of cardiovascular fitness and mobility.
On Your Heart
Becoming overweight also makes heart disease more likely, in large part due to the accompanying nutritional imbalance. Getting too much sodium may result in high blood pressure. Too much saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol buildup in your arteries causes atherosclerosis. Both may precede coronary heart disease. Blood clots in damaged blood vessels can bring on heart attacks and strokes.
On Your Muscles and Bones
Most American diets receive adequate protein, but avoidance of protein foods or consumption of only partial proteins can affect your muscle strength as the tissue wastes away. Soft-tissue injuries cause pain and restrict your mobility, and they may require surgical repair. A diet devoid of calcium sources, such as dairy products, can weaken bones and teeth, and also interfere with heartbeat regulation. Inadequate calcium consumption early in life may not appear until late adulthood as osteoporosis, or a loss of bone density. Falls and bone fractures may create additional health problems.
On Your Blood
Diets without enough iron or vitamin B12 can foster conditions of anemia, a decrease in red blood cell synthesis that lowers blood oxygen levels. Fatigue is a mild symptom, while long-term anemia can finally prevent oxygen from reaching vital organs and cause organ failures. In addition, the Office of the Surgeon General relates that gaining as few as 11 pounds by not eating healthy doubles your risk for type 2 diabetes, a blood sugar disorder that is incurable.
References
- Office of the Surgeon General: Overweight Consequences; January 2007
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Leading Causes of Death; December 2009
- American Heart Association: Atherosclerosis; January 2011
- American Heart Association: Hypertension; January 2011
- Merck Home Manuals: Undernutrition; August 2007
- National Institutes of Health: Anemia
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