CAROL’S CORNER

Welcome to another night here in Carol’s Corner. It was a pretty decent day here in Central New York. Can’t wait to wear sandals sometime soon and no jackets. I am so ready for some nice weather, (not too hot, not too cold). Today is one of my more casual look days. In fact this is my outfit for the 5K Walk I just signed up to do on Mother’s Day. Calling this one “Team Glam”.

As this is a no jewelry outfit, except for earrings, just have a FitBit band in a lighter pink tone with the bright hot pink BandCuff.

Ok , so the topic I decided on for this issue, is the dangers of fad diets. As usual I will be taking information from one source or two if time allows, and will then supply links to other good info.

We’re going to begin with a Reader’s Digest article titled “4 Reasons Fad Diets Are Bad For You”.

A quick weight loss program might sound like a good idea at the time, but you’ll soon discover that fad diets can be more dangerous to your health than beneficial to it. We will discuss four reasons why and also give tips on creating a diet plan that helps you lose the extra pounds safely, and keep them off.

Losing weight in a short period of time can be dangerous-and also can’t guarantee the pounds will stay off.

1.) YOU’LL WIND UP FEELING DEHYDRATED. The majority of the weight you lose weight too quickly tends to be water weight, which can lead to rapid dehydration. Your body burns calories and excess weight in stages, and if you force your body to lose more weight than it naturally wants to, you can cause serious health problems for yourself.

TIP: When trying to lose weight, remember water is your best friend. To keep from overeating and stay properly hydrated, drink one or two glasses before meals. Also if you exercise daily, be sure to increase your water intake to counteract the water you lose from sweating during exercise.

2.) YOU’LL GET TIRED QUICKLY. Fad diets involve depriving yourself of calories, however, calories are what translates into the energy your body needs to get through the day. If you fast or eat less than what your body requires in order to lose weight too quickly, you’ll find yourself feeling fatigued most of the day.

TIP: Eat smaller meals throughout the day. This will help to boost the metabolism, and can provide you with more energy to help you lose weight in a healthy manner.

3.) YOU CAN GET SERIOUS DIGESTIVE PROBLEMS. It’s a subject no one wants to dwell on, but the truth is losing weight too quickly can lead to severe diarrhea, to be followed later by constipation. As with losing water weight, having diarrhea over an extended period of time, can lead to dehydration – a condition that can be life-threatening.

TIP: Insure that you have a diet in which you are getting an adequate amount of fiber.

4.) MALNUTRITION. Crash diets and fasting are dangerous because they restrict you from consuming fats and carbs, but they’re also unsafe since they prevent your body from getting the vitamins and minerals it needs. If you restrict your body from it’s normal caloric intake over a long period of time, your body will be deprived of it’s essential nutrients and you’ll become severely malnourished.

TIP: A healthy-well balanced diet is the key to proper weight loss. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about dietary supplements,if you’re concerned about the amount of nutrients you’re getting.

Next we are going to take something from a site called diet.lovetoknow.com and an article titled “Dangers Of Fad Dieting”.

The dangers of fad dieting should be enough to make anyone stay clear of these methods of weight loss. It’s one thing to want to eat better to lose weight, but going on a fad diet is something else entirely. Before we continue on I’m going to add a bit of what I feel. Daily we are inundated with pictures of super skinny models from magazines to the same with actresses on film and tv. We live in a society that wants it wants now, instant gratification. So the minute someone sees something they think will be a quick method of weight loss they are ready to grab onto it. We all need to remind ourselves that if something looks too good to be true it probably is. Excess weight didn’t happen overnight and it won’t come off that way either. It takes hard work and commitment to realize your weight loss goals. An easy fix just isn’t in the cards. So that’s my little rant on the subject , so let’s continue.

Fad diets promise that by combining the right foods, eliminating the right foods, taking the right pills, that you’ll instantly be transformed into a sleeker sexier you. I know you can have that transformation but not by some miracle pill or diet, like I said above,it takes hard work and commitment. And the real problem with fad diets, is that they generally don’t work. Often times you’ll end up setting yourself up for serious health problems and a higher weight.

WHAT ARE FAD DIETS?

Fad diets or crash diets are designed to help you lose weight quickly. By severely restricting your diet, they force your body to drop weight fast. Most rely on an elimination of certain food groups or emphasizing “miracle foods” that will help you lose weight. These diets all have a few basic components in common. They all claim really quick weight loss that flies in the face of conventional diet wisdom. The diets also require you to severely change the way you eat by dropping calories or avoiding entire food groups. Other fad diets are based on “food myths” that haven’t held up against science. Food combining diets, negative calorie diets and fat flush diets all fall under this category.

THE DANGERS OF FAD DIETING.

As a result of following a fad diet, different negative results can result.

NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES

Crash dieting itself is hard on the body. When you deprive yourself of proper nutrition, your body begins to suffer. The natural vitamins, minerals, and nutrients you get through a normal balanced diet are important to the way your body functions. Your stores become depleted. Your skin, hair, and nails will show the first signs of malnutrition. If you stay on a fad diet for a long time, you’ll notice that you’ll begin to shed hair more frequently. Your nails will be brittle and break more often. Your skin will lose it’s shine and you may develop dark circles under your eyes. These nutritional deficiencies are a direct result of not getting the nutrients you need from a fad diet.

METABOLIC PROBLEMS

In addition to the nutritional deficiencies, fad diets also mess with your metabolism. As a result, your body will hold on to the few calories you eat. When you go off your diet, your body won’t use food as efficiently and you’ll actually put yourself in a position to gain more weight in the future. This is the reason that many people who try fad diets end up in a pattern of yo-yo dieting. They go on a fad diet and lose weight. Then when they go off the diet they immediately gain weight because of their slow metabolisms. The next diet they go on slows down their metabolism even more and it becomes harder and harder to lose weight.

MUSCLE LOSS

Most fad diets claim you don’t have to exercise to lose weight. This combined with the fact that fad diets leave you malnourished means that the weight you’re losing might not be fat. Muscle weighs more than fat and is just as easily lost as fat. Losing muscle may help you lose total weight, but muscle helps you burn calories while you are in a resting state. If you lose muscle mass because of fad dieting, you’ll have a lot of trouble keeping weight off.

CAFFEINE AND STIMULANTS

When it comes to fad diet pills, the dangers of fad dieting are even greater. Many rely on caffeine and other harmful chemicals to increase your heart rate and suppress your appetite. Putting that many chemicals in your body isn’t good for your heart. Heart failure and other serious problems have been linked to diet pills that are now off the market. However, the pills that are currently available come with a host of warnings and may be just as dangerous.

HOW TO SPOT A FAD DIET

Fad diets come in all shapes and sizes. Just like fashion fads they come in and out of style. ( good comparison there). Just because a diet is popular, doesn’t mean it is effective or good for you. If you’re considering going on a diet,ask yourself the following questions:

1.) Does the diet make wild claims about weight loss (e.g. Lose 10 pounds in a week!)?

2.) Does the diet use a single study as the basis for its claims?

3.) Does the diet claim you can lose weight without exercise?

4.) Does an element of the diet have warnings against it? ( e.g. FDA has warnings against a certain ingredient in a fad diet supplement).

5.) Does the diet eliminate one of the five food groups?

6.) Does the diet sound too good to be true?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, you’re looking at a fad diet. Steer clear of it. If you’re not sure what kind of plan you should be following discuss it with your health care provider.

Here are a few more links you might want to read

http://www.healthcommunities.com/diets-eating-plans/fad-diets-health-risks.shtml Fad Diets: Drawbacks And Dangers

http://www.healthcommunities.com/diets-eating-plans/fad-diets-health-risks.shtml. The Facts On Fad Diets

http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/the-truth-about-fad-diets Losing Weight Without Fad Diets

So that brings me to the end of a very important topic. Weight gain didn’t happen overnight and it isn’t going to go away without commitment and hard work. Don’t fall pray to some pill or gimmicky weight loss plan. Your future health might just depend on it. So I leave you with this.