How Crash Diets Can Harm Your Health

Crash diets are essentially diets with extremely low-calorie content and can also be referred to as semi-starvation diets. These types of diets offer their consumers fast weight reducing solutions for a short period, but at the risk of health problems later on. Most people who are obese use crash diets under the prescription of a doctor.

People always fall for things that arouse their curiosity. In the case of crash diets, due to the fast solutions that the diet offers, many people choose to use it instead of other weight loss alternatives. You may achieve the results you seek in a very short period compared to that person who opted to exercise more instead. However, the results you will attain will typically go as quickly as they came.

Over the festive holidays, most people consumed meals with high-calorie content, and now they feel the pressure to resume their ‘normal bodies’ since clothes don’t quite fit anymore. That is why a crash diet seems like the best alternative.

Moreover, you may picture going to the gym to lose those extra pounds as a real burden since you will have to exercise and get tired. You will also have to purchase training attire, plus the gym is not free – you either pay a monthly subscription or subscribe yearly. For some people, all these seem to be a little too expensive, so they opt for crash diets over working out.

Unfortunately, crash diets can have plenty of side effects on your health. If you look at the dangers your body is exposed to while consuming crash diets, you might well think twice about opting for them. Some of the side effects are discussed below.

1. Reduced Metabolic Rate

Metabolism simply is the rate at which your body burns the calories you consume. Metabolism is very important when it comes to losing weight – when you have a high metabolic rate, you will lose weight faster. However, crash diets can cause your body to suffer from nutrition deficiency, leading to muscle reduction. And with fewer muscles, your metabolic rate is reduced.

2. Weak Immune System

Through crash dieting or yo-yo dieting, you are depriving your body of the right nutrients it requires to maintain your immune system. It, therefore, leaves you vulnerable to diseases and infections. Vitamins like vitamin A, E, D, and K offer support to the immune system and they are also soluble. When you deny your body fatty foods, the absorption of these vitamins becomes more difficult, therefore exposing you to diseases in the future.

3. Dehydration

Crash dieting encourages the loss of water weight, which the body needs water for various parts to function effectively. Using crash diets to lose weight, you deplete the amount of glycogen, which is energy stored in water. Therefore, your body becomes dehydrated and you may feel dizziness and headaches. Glycogen can be restored when having proper meals.

4. Heart Disease

Due to the sudden drop of calories in the body, body fats are produced and released to the blood and taken to the heart from the different parts of the body. When the heart is surrounded by fats, it alters its function, and those individuals suffering from heart diseases may be in danger.

5. Damage to the Hair and Skin

Your physical appearance will change due to the reduced nutrition that your body is experiencing. This is because essential nutrients are limited, and your body is not able to absorb enough. The skin may become dry and cracked, and your hair too may weaken or even fall out. There are things that you can forgo, especially if your appearance matters a lot to you. You should simply avoid crash diets.

6. Oral Health

Crash diets mean you eliminate specific food groups, which means you risk not getting the right amount of nutrients that keep your teeth and mouth healthy. For example, though the pineapple diet sounds delicious, it also strips your teeth of the protective enamel. If you are too frivolous with your crash diet, you could require an emergency dentist to tackle oral health problems before they become too severe. No diet is worth damaging your teeth and mouth, so even if you think it is working, don’t ignore food and drink that will keep your teeth and gums healthy. 

Crash Diets: Bottom-line

Crash dieting may provide you with the quick solution you seek regarding weight loss in the time that you prefer, but again the side effects that it brings along can be grave. The right thing to do is avoid crash diets and consider losing weight the correct way by exercising and sensible dieting.