Extreme Diets with Low Calories

Health professionals do not recommend extreme diets with low calories to shed the pounds unless you have a body mass index over 30. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), most low-calorie diets involve the ingestion of commercially manufactured formulas, supervised by a physician, by obese people hoping to lose weight rapidly. However, others still embark upon these in the hopes of getting slim fast. If you choose to pursue one of these diets, follow some specific guidelines to ensure a safe and effective weight-loss program.

Very Low Calorie Diets

• In order to fight America's ever-growing obesity numbers, doctors now recommend that obese individuals go on a very low-calorie diet (VLCD). According to the website medicinenet.com, "VLCDs, when used under proper medical supervision, effectively produce significant short-term weight loss in patients who are moderately to extremely obese." The patients only eat 800 calories per day and stand to lose about three to five pounds per week if they suffer from moderate to severe obesity. Weight loss over three months averages 44 pounds under these diets. According to NIH, "Such a weight loss can rapidly improve obesity-related medical conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol."

  According to NIH, such dieters can retain a weight loss of 5 percent after four years,provided they continue to eat a healthy diet and practice healthy physical habits.

Considerations

• While the advent of VCLDs has become a welcome tool to fight the obesity epidemic across the country, it has its drawbacks. For example, do not engage in this diet if you are 50 or older, medicinenet.com warns, due to the probability of depleted lean body mass.

  If you choose to undergo this diet, prepare yourself for some unpleasant side effects such as fatigue, nausea, constipation, diarrhea or even gallstones. Keep in mind that, as HIH reports, VLCDs may not result in long-term results greater than those produced by less drastic dietary measures.

Crash Diets

• Do not confuse VLCDs with crash diets---extreme diets with very low calories undertaken without medical supervision. This type of diet does not take nutritional balance into consideration and can pose severe dangers to your heart, kidneys, liver and brain. According to the website Epigee.org, "During strict crash diets, carbohydrate and calorie intake is so low, that your organs cannot get enough energy from these sources. As a result, your organs begin to burn muscle tissue in order to get adequate amounts of energy to perform vital functions." This may lead to liver and kidney failure, heart attack and strokes.