5 Long Term Consequences Of Crash Dieting

Are you overly conscious of your weight? Have you been considering following a crash diet that will help you lose weight quickly? You should be warned that crash diets may have short-term benefits, but they have long-term negative consequences. They will ensure that you lose the extra pounds swiftly, but you are likely to gain it back along with other health disorders. Here is a list of consequences you are likely to face if you undertake a crash diet:

Regain Lost Pounds

Weight lost owing to crash dieting has a yo-yo effect. You will obviously lose the extra pounds because you force yourself to be on a diet that has a daily intake of fewer than 1000 calories. Normally, you require at least 1200 calories for your daily activities, but when on a crash diet, you eat only 530 to 700 calories. Also, the weight lost from crash dieting is predominantly your body’s water weight. Once you start following a proper diet again, you will inevitably regain the lost weight.

Reduced Weight Loss

Also, when you force yourself continuously to be on a reduced calorie diet, your body recognizes this lapse in the number of calories and tries to counter it. Your body alarms go off, and the condition is read as one that can cause your body to starve. In the effort to balance this low-calorie intake, your body tries to stop excessive loss of stored fats because it is required for body functions. However, continuous crash dieting does, in fact, lead to loss of stored fats, followed by the breakdown of muscle tissues, to compensate for energy required for body functions.

Short-Term Risks

The crash diet causes acute dehydration since it is primarily the body’s water weight that you lose. It is only after the water weight is lost that stored fats and muscle tissue degeneration takes place. Dehydration causes fainting due to exertion and exercising. As long as you keep your body hydrated, your metabolism is in check you can have a healthy and glowing skin, naturally. It also causes nutritional deficiency since there is hardly any mineral or vitamin included in the diet. Lack of necessary nutrients causes your body to become dysfunctional. Crash dieting can also cause cardiac arrhythmia, or in other words, irregular pulse rate as well as loss of bone tissues and muscle cramps.

Psychological Complications

A very low-calorie diet like a crash diet is always going to make you feel hungry. The hunger is because of the less food you eat. Such a diet is difficult to follow for prolonged periods. In some cases, the hunger pangs are so strong that you can fall into a binging cycle. A crash diet can also cause psychological disorders like anorexia and bulimia. Anorexia is a state where you starve yourself over a period, while bulimia is found to be the condition of forcing yourself to vomit your meals. Crash dieting can also cause social exclusion if other people in your circle are on a normal, healthy diet.

Increases Risk of Heart Disease

The sudden low-calorie diet, followed by the inability to replenish lost fats required for energy forces your heart to go on an overdrive. This condition makes the heart exert more pressure. The excessive strain can cause you to have a heart attack in the long term. It can also cause other heart diseases since the diet reduces potassium, sodium and copper count in the body. A low-calorie diet like a crash diet also causes you to feel light-headed as well as fainting. Giddiness, dizziness or fainting can cause you to fall and hurt yourself. It also breaks down your immune system, and causes blood vessel damage from the muscle breakdown.

While it is necessary to lose extra weight, crash dieting is not the answer. It will undoubtedly give fast results in terms of losing weight, but it has more harmful long-term health risks involved. The best way to lose weight is to begin a balanced diet that is inclusive of adequate amount of proteins, carbohydrates, fatty acids, minerals, and vitamins. It is also equally important to exercise to achieve better results.

Author Bio : Vineetha Reddy

Being a regular practitioner and adviser of everything related to nutrition, fitness, health and wellness, I also have begun to write and contribute to this knowledge ecosystem. I strongly believe that the organic food you find in your pantry provide the best benefits for good health. Follow me for my best ideas and solutions :Twitter