| Insights into the Harmful Effects of Fad Diets
As the whole world battles the bulge, fad diets still fascinate many and so do powders, pills, fitness and fat loss machines and centers. Please note there is no short cut to breaking down those bulges. You simply have to work hard for good results. This is the basic law of nature and life, so be wise and smart to stay away from fad diets and quick, short cut methods. The basic miracle formula is a combination of Walk, Water and a Balanced Diet with avoiding Fatty Foods.
However we would like to give you some insight into the harmful effects of some popular diet regimens and hope that you and specially the youth of today will stay away from these and protect your body and health. One of the most commonly and enthusiastically followed methods is the High Protein method. This method follows the principle of cutting down your carbohydrate intake to 15-20gms per day. You are asked to totally avoid bread, rice, chapatti, pasta, vegetables and fruits. You are allowed to eat any kind of protein or fatty foods like chicken, fish, beef, mutton, pork, eggs, cheese, paneer, etc. for all 3 meals with lettuce salad but no boiled veggies, bread, etc.
Disadvantages
The first problem is that it cannot be followed on a long-term basis. It can be done for a maximum of 2- 4 weeks during which time you may lose 3- 6kgs. But what if you want to lose 10 or 20. This is not the answer. No human being I know of can keep eating like this. They will have to go back to eating carbs – cereal, veg, fruit, etc. The abnormally raised metabolic rate will suddenly drop and they will start putting back all the weight and probably more when they go off this diet. I have many clients who have personally tried this and come to me saying we did lose weight but put it all back. The human body was created to be fed with a balance of carbohydrate, protein and fat foods- Glands and organs have being created to provide digestive juices to digest all the different nutrients and these are to be provided on a daily basis and required daily. If suddenly some food and nutrient is stopped completely then imbalances will be created in the whole digestive system. Lack of cereals and veggies and fruits can cause a serious constipation or piles problem besides indigestion due to the sudden richness of all the meats and fat in the diet. It is a very difficult diet to practice in our country where many are pure vegetarian and also where even those who do eat non-veg, don’t eat such large quantities and mostly don’t eat it on a daily basis. The traditional Indian diet is one of the most balanced and healthy diet systems in the world and breaking it and adopting something like this diet even for a few days is paving the way for bad health and destruction of the human body.
Health Problems
The biggest danger is that somebody with a family history of heart disease may have their blood lipid levels shooting up. Cholesterol, triglycerides, etc. could go up and you may end up with heart disease in the future. Those who repeat this diet on and off as do many in America may end up with colon cancer due to the lack of fiber (roughage) in the diet that is to be provided daily by chapatti, bread, rice, fruits and veggies. Such a diet is very, very harmful to the kidneys, as waste products of all this protein breakdown has to be flushed out. The blood urea and uric acid levels will be seen to rise alarmingly. There are also a variety of vitamins and mineral that are provided by cereals, fruits and veggies, that are needed daily and deficiencies of these will result. Also high fat diets without plenty of fiber are seen to result in poor skin and lots of pimples that no boy or girl, man or woman, wants. Even if you are thin but have bad skin, it’s all a waste. Yes, you may get sensational weight loss for a few days but when you go back to the normal diet and the metabolism drops you are paving the way for future obesity. It is better in the long run to maintain weight rather than lose it unhealthily and gain it back.
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