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Effects of Crash Dieting

Submitted by Stella Morgan on November 18, 2010

Crash Dieting

The human body is made up of many different organs and different types of muscle and tissue. The weight of an individual can be controlled based on two factors. The weight of an individual also depends on the amount of food that is consumed and the amount of exercise that is practiced. These two factors are important because they determine the amount of nutrition that enters the body and what happens with that nutrition.

A diet typically refers to any attempt made by an individual to reduce weight or improve the quality of nutrition received by his or her body.


Most diets are based on various different theories about what is good and what isn’t good for the body. Crash dieting involves a sudden reduction of nutrition to the body. Most doctors agree that this type of diet is harmful to the individual as it literally starves the body of nutrition instead of replacing bad nutrition with good nutrition.


The replacement of bad nutrition with good nutrition is the hallmark of a good diet.

Even with these factors in mind, crash dieting is practiced all over the world. The simple fact is that crash dieting helps an individual lose weight quickly.


Most people do not care whether the weight is lost in a healthy way or not. Crash dieting is also popular because individuals may have a sudden requirement for weight loss, for example, the need to attend some social function. Crash dieting is not used by individuals who need to change their lives to a more healthy balance as this does not work.


There are new fads that appear and disappear with claims of crash diets that work as well as crash dieting tips that provide results quickly. An individual should be wary of this hype as it would only lead to trouble for his or her own body. Although the effects of crash dieting may not be immediate, the individual will eventually suffer from problems associated with this unhealthy lifestyle. One of the most profound effects of crash dieting is felt by the heart. The heart is a vital organ of the body that needs to work 24 hours a day and therefore would require 24 hour nourishment to function effectively. The body may break down fats to produce energy which is used by the heart. However, this does not ensure the presence of vital vitamins and minerals such as potassium which are necessary for cardiac function. When the body suddenly breaks down fat to produce energy, it may release toxins into the blood stream. Gradual fat reduction is alright as it allows the kidneys to filter out the waste materials that are produced during the process that burns fat. However, crash dieting means that the individual will lose fat rapidly and this could be harmful. The effects of crash dieting can be felt on the liver as well, since this organ is responsible for handling toxins. A sudden reduction of nutrition could therefore damage all the important organs of the body and is highly unwise. 

Who doesn’t want to have a perfect figure like Angelina Jolie or have a body like Body Pitt? Well, the truth is that most of us wish to lose weight at the snap of our fingers and do not have the patience to wait for months or years to lose that flab. Hence, we go on crash diets to get rid of the flab. But did you know that crash diets or yo-yo diets can take a serious toll on your health?

With crash diets, you will definitely lose the flab but also deprive your body of essential nutrients, making you feel weak and look under-nourished. Losing weight in the right way by exercising and eating a proper diet will not only help you lose weight, but will also make you look healthy.

Also, while you may think that you are following the best crash diet, the truth is that after you lose weight, you will stop dieting and you will gain the weight easily back as well. This is because the moment you go off your diet, you tend to eat more than what you used to as your body is deprived of food and demands more than normal. When you increase your intake of food all of a sudden, your body starts storing the excess food and this excess turns into fat or flab. Besides this, women who go on a crash diet develop osteoporosis in the long run as crash diets cause calcium deficiency and also weaken the bones.

Crash diets lead to muscle loss instead of fat loss. So essential tissues from vital organs like the brain, kidney, and liver and so on get lost and fat is stored instead. This can lead to serious health issues in the long run. We have seen celebrities losing weight drastically by following crash diets and other methods. They do look awesome in the movie but soon after that they seem to age overnight. The reason is that crash diets hasten the aging process. As a result, your skin ages faster and wrinkles start appearing.

Crash diets also lead to low blood cell count and people who go on yo-yo diets are usually anemic. To make matter worse, you may also suffer from depression and other psychological problems as a result of low carbohydrate content in your body. Hence, it is important to consult a good dietician before you go on any diet to make sure that you lose weight in the right manner.

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