If you have excess weight to lose, you naturally might be impatient to shed the pounds as quickly as possible; however, overly rapid weight loss can lead to a range of medical problems and symptoms. A safe and permanent rate of weight loss is roughly 2 lbs. weekly. Ask your doctor about appropriate weight management for your height, current weight and medical history.
Starvation
If you lose weight too quickly by restricting your food intake, your body might start to show signs of starvation. Constantly feeling fatigued or irritable is a common sign of starvation. You also might feel faint or dizzy, and might lose consciousness or "pass out" more often than usual. If you experience these symptoms, be very careful about driving a car or operating dangerous machinery, as an increased risk of fainting makes these activities more dangerous. If your body fat becomes very low, your body will use lean muscle tissue as a source of energy. Women who become medically underweight commonly experience an absence or change of menstrual patterns.
Extra Body Hair
Losing weight too quickly can shock your body into producing extra body hair known as lanugo. This soft, downy hair commonly appears on the back, face and arms, and is a survival mechanism intended to retain body heat when your body fat is too low to provide sufficient heat insulation. Lanugo is one of the tell-tale signs of the eating disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia.
Loss of Scalp Hair
Other changes in your body hair patterns can indicate your weight loss has been too rapid. A pattern of hair loss from the scalp, Telogen effluvium, commonly occurs in response to overly rapid weight loss or starvation. According to MedLine Plus, Telogen effluvium causes anywhere from half to three-quarters of your scalp hair to shed over the course of several weeks. Crash dieting is known to cause Telogen effluvium, as can emotional or physical stress.
Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus might develop as a response to overly fast weight loss, or losing too much weight. A report in the "Journal of Diabetes and Its Complications" discussed seven obese people who lost a lot of weight rapidly. Each of the patients was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus as a result of the weight loss, and two additionally experienced insulin dependency. The authors of the report indicate that rapid weight loss likely caused increases in stress hormones, leading to the development of diabetes symptoms.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Obesity Treatment and Drugs
- "Journal of Diabetes and Its Complications"; Starvation Diet and Very-Low-Calorie Diets May Induce Insulin Resistance and Overt Diabetes Mellitus; M. Koffler et al.; March 1996
- MedLine Plus: Hair Loss
- Medline Plus: Anorexia Nervosa
- Eating Disorder Referral and Information Center; Consequences of Eating Disorders
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