Here’s How Crash Dieting Can Ruin Your Body
May 22, 2023 • By Olivia Marjorae
Everything that’s wrong with them, and the right things to do instead.
In a world obsessed with achieving quick results, crash dieting has emerged as a popular approach for rapid weight loss. We’ve all seen those commercials and advertisements promising immediate transformations, and these extreme and restrictive diets have captured the attention of many individuals longing for a quick fix. However, while crash dieting may seem tempting, its detrimental effects on your health can damage your body long-term, making it more difficult to lose weight over time.
So keep reading to learn how crash dieting can wreak havoc on your body and the importance of adopting sustainable and healthy weight loss strategies.
What They Are
Crash diets are short-term diet plans that promise rapid results. However, they are typically very restrictive and encourage extreme and unsustainable eating patterns, all for timely weight loss, such as before a wedding, before a photoshoot, etc.
Some crash diets may help you reach your weight loss goals, but they come at a very steep cost because they can be extremely dangerous and detrimental to your health, especially when done frequently.
What They Do
Crash diets are centered around restriction, or in other words, the elimination of entire food groups from your diet. When restricting your eating patterns, you will inadvertently consume significantly fewer calories than what you typically would. This calorie deficit is what triggers the rapid weight loss.
The problem here is that restriction is not sustainable long-term. Each of the five food groups is necessary for their own respective reasons, offering nutrition and sustenance to our bodies that we simply cannot live without. Going without any of the five food groups will, over time, place your body in a nutritional deficit, leaving you malnourished.
Their Effect On The Body
Following crash diets, malnourishment can manifest as:
- Irregular appetite
- Slower metabolism
- Exhaustion
- Poor muscle functionality, muscle deterioration
- Getting ill often and taking a long time to recover
- Wounds taking a long time to heal
- Poor concentration and cognitive functions
- Depression
So while crash diets may actually help you lose weight, they come at a very steep cost, destroying your overall health in the process.
Instead, Try This
- Be Patient: All good things take time! In the pursuit of weight loss and fitness, don’t get too caught up in the timeline of things. Move at your own pace and make sure to offer grace to yourself and your body along the way.
- Learn How Your Body Works: The key to weight loss lies in first understanding how your body functions. Learning the science behind your organs, your gut, and the way that they respond to various stimuli will help you understand how to approach weight loss and dieting.
- Get Active: Dieting isn’t the end-all-be-all of fitness. Aside from eating correctly, it’s also essential to ensure you stay active and move your body regularly. Adopting a workout regimen will help you see the results you desire along your fitness journey.
Kick crash diets to the curb and nourish your body the right way! Chime in down below and tell us what you’ve been eating lately!