Harmful
Effects of Crash Dieting
You could
be fooled into thinking that crash and fad diets will give you a quick fix
solution, Crash dieting may seem as the best option for those looking to lose
some weight quickly but have you ever thought about the effects of crash diets
on your overall physical and mental health?
Crash Diets
Is a diet
that is under 1200 calories eaten daily. It is not a very healthy methods
of weight loss that
deliver results in a very short span. There are many effects of crash dieting
including short-term weight loss, dehydration, nutritional deprivation, leading
to long- term health complications.
Depriving
Yourself
Crash diet
tends to make dieters tired, irritable and lethargic and brings on food
cravings. There's a rapid weight loss, making it look like the plan is working.
At this point, you haven't actually lost any fat; all that's happened is that
you've used up the body's limited store of glycogen, a form of carbohydrate. As
you use up the glycogen, your body loses water with it, so you appear to be
losing weight very quickly.
Primarily,
crash diets slow down your body’s metabolic rate. Your body wants to maximize
each calorie it receives because it is afraid of starvation so continued weight
loss after the crash diet is extremely difficult.
Health
Risks
The
short-term dehydration and nutritional deprivation, can go hand in hand. Even
if you consume a lot of water throughout your diet it is hard for your body to
retain water if you are not eating balanced meals. Severely restricting your
caloric intake deprives your body of vitamins, carbohydrates, proteins and
nutrients that it needs to sustain itself.
Having a
diet free from fat is not acceptable since your body needs 30% of its daily
calories to come from fats leading to malnourishment. Leading to weakening of
the immune system, development of gallstones, hair loss & cholesterol
related disorders. In addition, a lot of crash diets suggest the use of
laxatives or salt water flushes which increase risk of dehydration and don’t
allow the body to absorb nutrients and fats which in turn leads to nutritional
deprivation.
Further, weight gain is another issue due to change in metabolic rate
that your body goes through while you are crash dieting. Thereafter, due to the
body’s adjusted metabolism, it becomes increasingly difficult for you to loose
weight.
Eating Disorder developing anorexia, bulimia & untimely food cravings further
leading to a number of other disorders.
Osteoporosis women are more susceptible to developing osteoporosis
especially in the menopausal phase and crash dieting makes them even prone to
it due to the weakening of bones caused by calcium deficiency.
Muscle and Tissue Loss Crash dieting causes the fat to be stored and the
muscles are burned instead of the fats and calories. This causes a great deal
of muscle loss and loss of tissues around organs like the brain, kidneys and
the liver.
Early Aging Crash dieting speeds up the process of aging. You will
notice signs of aging on your skin like sagging skin, fine
lines and wrinkles early on.
Some other serious crash diets effects include electrolyte imbalance, low blood
cell count, development of cardiovascular system disorders and organ damage.
Mental Health
A lot
of crash dieters go into depression once they hit the weight loss plateau and
start putting on weight. Depression is also accompanied by lethargy, tiredness,
mood swings and irritability. Crash dieters are also known to complain about
lack of concentration and confidence in them.
