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Unhealthy Ways to Diet

With such a large portion of the population struggling with their weight, there's no wonder why endless varieties of diets exist promising to help people win this battle. While some diets work well, particularly the ones that include exercise and well-balanced, sensibly portioned meals, there are other diets that people participate in daily that are simply unhealthy. Knowing the diets that can cause unhealthy effects will help you refrain from the temptation of miracle diets and choose a smart diet that will work with effort and patience.

  1. Crash Diets

    • Crash dieting is among the most common and most unhealthy ways to lose weight. In addition, it won't always work the way you hoped it would. Crash dieting is a form of starvation. The diets typically include the unreasonable restriction of calories and are designed for people to lose weight fast. According to the Weight Loss Center website, crash dieting can lead to malnutrition as well as long-term negative consequences known as the "yo-yo effect." Since a person cannot live indefinitely on a crash diet, it must come to an end at some point. The body is so starved of calories and nutrition at this point that the dieter tends to begin eating in excess as soon as the diet is over. The recently lost weight typically comes back in a short time and then some. An evolutionary trait that caused people to regain lost weight and then add more weight following a famine was meant to protect them from future hard times, but today it merely results in ever-growing waistlines.

    Diet Pills

    • Unless a credible physician prescribes weight loss pills, there is a good chance that the drugs will be unhealthy and ineffective. Diet pills sold over-the-counter are often forms of speed and some people resort to illicit drugs like cocaine because of their weight loss effects. But anyone taking drugs to lose weight will stop getting the diet benefits immediately upon stopping them. This may lead to withdrawal symptoms and overeating that will cause the person to regain all the weight.

    Laxatives

    • Laxatives are an unhealthy way to lose weight and they are not designed to aid in weight loss. Laxatives are meant for help with constipation and induce bowel movements. The idea that they will keep the calories and fat in food from absorbing into the system is a myth. The calories absorbed from food will have already been absorbed before a laxative works. Water weight loss is the only true weight loss that will occur because of laxatives. In addition, laxatives can lead to dehydration, hemorrhoids, kidney failure and more if abused.

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