We’ve all seen the ads, the ones where they show you a before-and-after picture of someone who lost 150 pounds in three months by taking some magic pill or by drinking a mystical milkshake for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Or maybe you’ve been intrigued by your favorite celebrity talking about how the latest diet trend helped them get in shape and lose weight for their new music video or helped them land that role in their new movie.
Fad diets have been around for decades, and new ones seem to pop up all the time. People gravitate to the promise of losing a bunch of weight at once in an easy way. But the truth is that while some of these diets may give followers the short-term results they’re looking for, these diets are both ineffective and can cause major damage to your body. Below are some of the ways that fad diets can negatively impact your health.
Your Body is Not Designed to Lose Weight Quickly
In fact, your body isn’t really designed to lose weight at all. We haven’t evolved much from our caveman days in terms of how our body digests food, which may be one of the reasons why the obesity epidemic is an issue. Our bodies are always in survival mode, meaning that we’re designed to store fat for long periods of time between meals in case we need it later. Losing weight goes against that survival mode.
For this reason, any healthy form of weight loss should happen over a long period of time to let your body properly adjust to the change in body fat. Realistically, you can expect to lose about one to two pounds a week by maintaining a healthy diet and getting a good amount of exercise. Anything that promises more than that in a shorter amount of time is most likely not healthy for your body and may contribute to you losing muscle, bone or water mass rather than the body fat that you’re trying to get rid of.
Fad Diets Don’t Yield Long Term Results
Have you ever noticed that after seeing positive results on a diet, you gain the weight right back? Well, there are a few reasons for this. One is that fad diets are incredibly hard to stick to. They’re notorious for being too restrictive on the things you can and can’t eat, and they give users unrealistic rules that they can’t maintain long-term. So while you may see results when you’re on the diet, your body is just going to gain all of the weight right back the minute you fall off.
Another reason why you gain weight after following an extreme diet is due to the way your body reacts to a sudden decrease in weight. When your body loses weight too quickly, it thinks that it’s starving. Your body will then slow down its metabolism to help preserve some of the energy, which means you burn fewer calories and it becomes harder to lose weight in the future.
Fad Diets Can Lead to Poor Health in the Long-term
Not only are these diets wildly ineffective, but they also can cause long-term damage to your health. Along with the change in metabolic rate, a lot of the methods used to help you quickly lose weight can lead to irreversible damage. For example, intermittent fasting can make your cells more resistant to insulin, which can increase your risk of diabetes. A study has shown that the Keto diet may cause heart problems, and the restrictiveness of the Paleo diet can lead to malnutrition that can lead to kidney and heart issues in the future.
Most fad diets become popular before they are able to be properly tested by scientists, and the ones that have been proven to be unhealthy usually have so much good press that it’s difficult to get the message across. This is why it’s so important to use a doctor-recommended weight-loss program when you’re trying to lose weight.
Weight Loss Supplements are Unregulated
You should always be wary of any pill or dietary supplement that claims to make you lose weight quickly. Dietary supplements are not FDA regulated, which means that there is no proof that the substance you’re buying is effective in helping you lose weight. There’s also no guarantee that the things listed in the ingredients are actually in the product you’re taking.
You don’t need a magic pill or milkshake to help you lose weight. What you do need is to work to change your eating habits to include more whole foods and to increase your amount of physical activity. This doesn’t mean you need to completely cut sugar out of your life or start running a mile every single day. Instead, begin with baby steps that you can gradually build on to turn them into lifestyle habits. Start by drinking water with your meals instead of soda and juice and substitute refined white bread with whole-grain options high in fiber. You could also find ways to maximize your gym workouts, because increased exercise duration doesn’t always translate to an effective workout. Once you become comfortable with these changes, push yourself to do more. Not only will this give you the weight loss results you’re looking for, but it will also give you the habits to keep the weight off long term.
How Can You Spot a Fad Diet?
After reading this article, you may be afraid to try anything labeled as a “diet.” While it’s always best to err on the side of caution, it’s important to remember that the word “diet” is not inherently bad, nor is it bad to try and create healthier eating habits with the intent to lose weight.
Below are some of the things to look for when changing your diet.
- Exclusion of complete food groups or nutrients (such as dairy, carbohydrates or fats)
- The promise of extreme weight loss in a short amount of time.
- Having a pill or supplement be the main source of your weight loss.
- Has little to no scientific research behind the claims.
- Includes buzzwords like “detox,” “cleanse” and “fast”
If you’re ever unsure about what is and isn’t healthy for you, talk to your doctor or a nutritionist. They will be able to tell you the best way to go about your weight-loss journey.