In this era of modern advancement where manual labor is being replaced by machinery, an extremely busy and sedentary lifestyle, the consumption of ready-made food has increased surprisingly in most people which has led to obesity and other health complications. According to a survey of U.S Department Of Health an Human Science,CDC, the prevalence of obesity among the young adults of USA was almost 39.8% in 2015-16.
Fad diets have gained popularity in the recent few years as fad diets have started to be known as a quick solution for weight loss and better health. Fad diets are very difficult to detect and mask behind misleading scientific claims. It is a very difficult task to determine which diet is a fad diet because they mask behind the false scientific claims is, however, broadly accepted by the people at large as they claim quick remedies for weight loss.
What are Fad Diets?
What exactly are fad diets? It’s most certainly a fad diet if the diet sounds too good to be true. Low-carbohydrate, extremely low-fat, and/or high-protein diets are all terms used to describe fad diets. Some suggest consuming large amounts of certain foods, such as grapefruit or celery juice. Others will concentrate on avoiding specific foods in general. Mostly the people which have very less knowledge or no scientific evidence are involved in the manufacturing of fad diets.
The core concept of all fad diets is the same: a short-term, frequently incorrect cure for a long-term issue.
The following are common characteristics of fad diets:
- Advocate a speedy treatment.
- Promising dramatic outcomes.
- Calories should be severely restricted.
- Avoid consuming specific food groups while increasing the consumption of other.
- Rapid weight loss is promised.
- Support the use of liquid food items more.
- Based on their personal experience or no scientific proof regarding that product.
- Have regulations that are strict and are very difficult to manage.
The Effects of Fad Diets on Kidney Function:
Your body needs a proper supply of carbohydrates as an energy resource. The activity of the brain also relies upon the constant supply of glucose. When you stop the carbohydrate intake your body’s level of glucose starts depleting and the brain’s activity is directly affected. Your body then starts converting fats into ketone bodies by a process called gluconeogenesis to maintain the activity of your brain.
However, these ketone bodies are scientifically proven to abrupt the functions of the kidney because ketone bodies decrease the pH of the blood and this low pH can hinder the filtration process of the kidney and thus fluid retention occurs in the body. Thus, the kidneys are unable to excrete out oxalates and the formation of kidney stones is started.
Other Issues Associated with Fad Diets:
While many crash diets appear to be safe, they can be hazardous to human health in a variety of ways. Below are some health issues that can prevail due to the long-term use of fad diets.
Insufficient Intake of Certain Nutrients:
In one way or another, many fad diets are restrictive. They frequently demand that you exclude whole food categories or stick to a single kind of food for the period of the diet. You risk the chance of not getting enough amount of certain nutrients if you don’t eat a balanced diet with a variety of foods.
To function effectively, your body requires a variety of nutrients. You may be missing out on key nutrients if you exclude certain items from your diet. As a result, nutritional insufficiency is a typical adverse effect of fad dieting. Nutrient deficiencies, if left untreated, can lead to exhaustion, skin problems, low red blood cell counts, and digestive difficulties.
A Fad Diet is Too Restrictive to Adopt:
The adoption of a fad diet requires complete abstention from a specific food product or even a whole food group. What happens is when we stop the consumption of carbohydrates or fats, the body responds to this behavior by increasing the secretion of such hormones that increase the cravings for these macronutrients, The main reason behind this is that your body requires both these macronutrients in sufficient amount to sustain the normal physiological functions and if you don’t consume one or both of these macronutrients, you will start craving for them until you give up.
Loss of Lean Muscle Mass:
A fad diet may assist you in weight loss, but it will most likely be in the form of decreased water, content and reduced muscle mass, which you need to enhance your metabolism. Such diets that encourage quick weight loss frequently result in the loss of more muscle tissue. Because lean muscle is more biologically active, therefore needs a higher calorie intake to sustain.
A crash diet-induced loss of lean mass might throw your metabolism off, leaving you far worse than you were before you started. You’ll burn fewer calories after a fad diet if your lean mass is lower than it was before. This paves the basis for weight gain.
Impact of Fad Diet on Mental Health:
Constant use of a crash diet leads to mental illness which can lead to depression and anxiety in the individual. Restrictive diets can make you feel guilty and anxious about your food choices, as well as regret and anxiousness over your ability to stick to the diet. You may blame yourself and feel frustrated if you are unable to maintain the tight dietary restrictions of a fad diet. This might lower your self-esteem and trigger emotional stress.
Hormonal Changes Due to Fad Diets:
Long-term low-calorie and even extremely low-carb diets can also cause hormonal imbalances, such as decreased thyroid output, increased cortisol production, and lowered testosterone, all of which make weight reduction more difficult. This can interfere with the body’s normal function and can negatively impact your sexual characteristics. While high-fat diets may improve short-term weight loss, the risks of increasing the likelihood of atherosclerosis progression outweigh the short-term advantages.
Keeping in view the above points, it becomes evident that following the fad diet is not stable for long-term use and can have an adverse effect on human health. This means there should be a more appropriate approach to assist in weight loss without challenging your physical health.
Here is a list of the most ridiculous fad diets we’ve covered on this site so far…
Alternatives to Fad Diets:
Adopting healthy lifestyle modifications that are long-term sustainable is an alternative to fad diets. This may involve eating lesser portions, increasing physical activity, or eating healthier alternatives. When trying to lose weight, the most essential thing to remember is that the quantity of energy intake must be less than the amount of energy expended.
Reduce Simple Sugar Intake:
This means including food groups in your diet that have a low glycemic index. Avoid drinking sodas and soft drinks that are known as empty calories. Low glycemic index foods include nuts, vegetables, and fruits. It’s important to remember that just because something doesn’t taste sweet doesn’t mean it’s not loaded with sugar. You just need to be more aware of your choices and go for reduced sugar options to guarantee you consume less sugar throughout the day.
Eat a Variety of Foods:
Try to include lean protein, complex carboydrates and essential fatty acids containing food in your meal plan. The person who is consuming a fad diet is more likely to get a little or no amount of specific essential nutrients. It’s possible that getting too little of any nutrient won’t produce any problems right away. But the long-term deprivation of these nutrients can cause serious health problems. Alwayss try to include all the 5 food groups i.e cereals, vegetables, fruits, dairy and meat products in your daily meal plan.
Maintain an Active Lifestyle:
Maintaining am active lifestyle is essential for a healthy weight loss. Besides assisting in weight loss, the exercise may also provide several other health benefits.. Try to exercise daily for at least 20 min/day. This may include a brisk walk for 20 minutes daily.
Eat More Fruits and Vegetables:
Fruit and vegetables are are known to be less in calories and saturated fats, and contain sufficient amount of dietary fiber. This dietary fiber obtained from plant source is proven to be beneficial for gut bacteria i.e these fiber tend to increase the proliferation of gut bacteria which helps in the immunity and colon health. These 3 factors are very well known in increasing the efficiency of weight loss. They’re also rich in many nutrients . The foods that contain dietary fiber in significant amount induce the feeling of fullness.
Stop Restricting Food Groups:
Restricting food groups is not okay at all because, in the end, you will be craving them anyway. It is absolutely fine to eat all food groups if you are not overconsuming their required amount. Because restriction of certain food groups causes deficiency of different nutrients found in that particular food group i.e restriction of dairy products may cause bone weaknes and deformities due to deficiency of calcium and phophorus. In the same way people who are strict vegetarians are found to be deficient in Vitamin B12 and protein.