Fad Diets | Foodfacts.com

Editor’s Note: Be sure to consult with your physician or a qualified nutrition  professional before making any changes to your diet. This article is provided for informational purposes only.

The Foodfacts.com Blog has been wondering: Why is it that fad diets won’t work? The answer is simple…because they’re not natural. Fad diet is the term that describes an array of diet approaches used to temporarily lose weight through unsafe and unrealistic methods. Quick fix programs do not work although millions of dollars are spent each year. These programs offer a quick loss of weight but sadly the weight is gained right back because people return to their old eating habits, to their old life style.

There are many kinds of fad diets. Avoid those types of diet that recommend a certain nutrient, or combination of foods encouraging you to loss weight fast. Nutritional deficiencies and short-term weight loss may also be caused by the unusual quantities of a food or lack of a well balanced diet. Fad diets do not teach lifestyle habits for long-term weight management, they do not help people gain the will power to change a lifestyle with another. Diets promoting a very low calorie system, approximately 1,000 to 1,500 calories per day and with no exercise program cause the body to become less efficient at burning fat, making it easier to store fat and regain weight each time a diet is stopped. In the long run these fad diets make a person fatter instead of leaner. Ultimately those diets that claim to help you lose a set number of pounds a week are not safe. Only your weight and exercise level determines the number of calories that is right for your diet program and only healthy lifestyle habits will maintain long-term weight control. Healthy lifestyle habits include regular exercise, behavior modification, and a healthy, nutritious diet with a wide variety of foods. People should be aware of their health problems before engaging in a diet program. All diets should include a warning to check with a specialist before trying a diet. Also most fad diets make no mention of physical activity, which is essential in the process of weight loss and some of these diets can actually harm one’s health. The majority of fad diets involve a 10 days to 1 month period in which your diet is restricted to a select collection of often bad-tasting, inconsistent health foods or recipes.

The fad diet is generally advising you to completely avoid fats. Due to water loss from this period, as a reaction to the starvation process, you will quickly lose weight. And, as you continue to starve, your body starts working in order to keep up with the energy needs. But you are still not burning fats and as you avoid fats in your diet, your body will try to preserve the fat that it has in its store. And if you continue your diet for up to a month your body will burn its stored fats having no other alternative to stay alive.

After this period the dieter starts getting weaker and he is not able to feel well and perform its normal duties because it requires a lot more effort and time for the body to produce energy from fat rather than from muscle. At a certain time the dieter is back to his normal eating habit but it will take some time before the reconstruction of your muscle occurs and during this time, the body stores most of the food intake as excess fats. Therefore, at the end of the reconstruction process, the dieter is back to his initial weight gaining back the weight he lost in the starvation process and a little bit more. A diet which regards the proper nutrition for a normally developed human should contain vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and fats. An imbalanced process may cause starvation or excessive reserves of body fat. By using fad diets in your weight loss process your body will experience both starvation and weight gain in a short amount of time.

The rapid weight loss being promoted today by the media for the sake of ratings and by the weight loss companies for the sake of profits make it very hard for those of us with a genuine interest in health, fitness and nutrition.

Part of a sensible diet includes knowing what is in your favorite foods. What do you really know? Join Foodfacts.com today for FREE membership and start using the innovative and unique Food Facts Health Score. You’ll be glad you did.

Source:      Articles Base

Image:      Examiner