What Are the Dangers of a Bad Diet?

A well-balanced diet is essential to maintaining a healthy body. A beneficial daily diet contains moderate amounts of foods from six different groups: meat, dairy, grain, vegetables, oils and fruit. When an individual consumes an unbalanced amount of a particular substance, such as fats, it may lead to harmful side effects in the body.

High Protien Diets

• Protein is an integral substance for all body cells. It's the main component of hair and nails, assists in tissue repair and is important in the creation of muscles. Since the body doesn't store protein, it requires a daily supply to properly function. Too much protein can cause a negative reaction. If the protein in a person's diet makes up more than 30 percent of her caloric intake, she is at risk for ketosis. Ketones are molecules that are created when the body breaks down fats. The kidneys increase in function, ridding the body of the ketones, but also release water at an excessive rate. This process can lead to dehydration and a loss of bone calcium and muscle mass. Additional side effects include bath breath, dizziness and stress on the heart. A healthy amount of protein in a person's diet is 15 percent of her daily caloric intake.

High-Fat Diets

• Fat provides energy for a healthy body. A diet that contains too much fat places a person at risk for obesity, heart disease and certain types of cancer. Fat should make up about 20 to 35 percent of a person's daily caloric intake. The three types of fat are saturated, unsaturated and trans fats. Saturated fats are normally solid at room temperature, and they are the primary fats responsible for increased blood cholesterol and an elevated risk of heart disease. Unsaturated fats, normally liquid at room temperature, lowers blood cholesterol when they are used in place of saturated fats. Trans fats are created through hydrogenation, the process that changes liquid unsaturated fats to solid higher saturated fats. Trans fats may increase low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL), considered the bad cholesterol. They may also lower high-density lipoprotein(HDL), the good cholesterol, when substituted for unsaturated fats. All types of fat can cause weight gain when consumed in excessive amounts.

Very Low-Fat Diets

• Just as diets high in fat present health complications, diets that severely restrict, or eliminate fat entirely, can also damage a person's health. Very low fat diets can lead to fertility problems and a hormone imbalance in women. They can also lower the body's ability to prevent heart disease and certain types of cancer, hinder the body's ability to absorb fat-soluble vitamins and lower HDL cholesterol. A diet is very low in fat when 0 to 19 percent of a person's daily caloric intake is fat.

Low-Carbohydrate Diets

• Low-carb diets produce weight loss through reducing calories and water weight loss. Those on low-carb diets also eat less food as a result of feeling full quicker from consuming foods high in protein and fats. Dangers associated with a low-carb diet include an increased risk for certain kinds of cancer and heart disease from consuming foods high in fat and cholesterol. Gastrointestinal conditions, such as constipation, may develop from a lack of fiber when fruits and vegetables are restricted. Ketosis may also develop during diets that are low-carb.