Using an unsafe dieting technique can cause short-term and long-term complications and side effects. There are a variety of ways to tell whether your dieting approach is safe. Before you begin any diet, talk to your physician. Ask him if your weight is within a healthy range and ask for diet recommendations or seek physician approval prior to trying a diet that sounds too good to be true.
Very Low-Calorie Diet
Very low-calorie diet, or VLCD, is a diet that it is only to be performed under a doctor's supervision because of the danger that accompanies it. This severe calorie restriction is only designed for those who are extremely, or morbidly, obese and is only meant to be followed several weeks to a few months, according to the Weight-Control Information Network. A very low-calorie diet typically provides enough nutrition to meet your body's basic nutritional requirements and consists of 800 calories or less. This diet can be extremely dangerous, even under doctor supervision, and is considered unsafe for most people. Do not attempt this diet as it could end in hospitalization from malnutrition, dehydration, muscle fatigue, mental confusion and other severe side effects.
Fad Diets
Fad diets can be unsafe, especially when you are restricted to eating only one particular type of food or a group of food for a period of time. Grapefruits are healthy for you because they contain vitamin C and have high water content, but if that was all you ate every day, it wouldn't be healthy. Your body needs other nutrients such as calcium, potassium, vitamin E, vitamin D, B vitamins, iron and other minerals. Quick weight-loss diets, such as the Cabbage Soup diet, are also unhealthy, according to the American Heart Association. Fad, crash and quick weight-loss diets typically promise that you'll lose a certain number of pounds in a specified period of time, which is usually an unrealistic amount, and they limit what you're allowed to eat.
Eating Disorders
Anorexia nervosa and bulimia are eating disorders that engage in an unhealthy diet technique. Anorexia is characterized by either starvation or food restriction with the obsession of weight gain. Anorexia is typically seen in those who are female, have a low body weight and has an extreme fear of weight gain, according to WomensHealth.gov. Bulimia is a different eating disorder that engages in binge eating followed by purging. This allows a person to eat as much as she would like, then vomit after eating or exercise excessively to burn off any calories consumed.
Considerations
A healthy diet will allow you to have a variety of foods, such as fruits, vegetables, grains and meat, as well as have a satisfying portion of food. A grapefruit is hardly a good portion of food for one meal. A healthy diet will allow you to lose weight, but do so in a matter that is healthy enough to keep it off for good, usually one to two pounds per week.
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