A crash diet is the opposite of a healthy diet. Many of those looking to lose weight wish to do so quickly and want instantaneous results. A crash diet, however, will take the body to a point at which it will fight back. Crash dieting can also cause a drastic weight gain due to rebound.

What Is a Crash Diet?

A crash diet is not a specific kind of diet but is instead an umbrella term for a certain type of dieting. This dieting involves the goal of achieving rapid weight-loss results. Typically, a person who is crash dieting will reduce the food that they normally consume to minimal levels.

Many crash diets are referred to as “single named food” diets. These diets, such as the egg diet, soup diet, cabbage diet, or Hollywood Juice diet, revolve around consuming a single type of food. For instance, the egg diet is a high protein diet with zero carbohydrates. This diet triggers rapid weight loss through calorie restriction. These types of weight-loss diets all cause large amounts of weight loss. However, this weight loss will rebound the moment normal amounts of food are consumed again.

Do Crash Diets Work?

Crash diets deliver short-term results. Because the dieter is cutting their calories so low and making such big changes to what they eat, their body will certainly lose weight. While crash diets do influence large amounts of weight loss, they are not safe and are easily reversible.

Risks of Crash Dieting

A healthy diet promotes strength in a body, but crash dieting can bring many risks to the body. High metabolism is important when losing weight, but crash dieting can make the metabolic rate lower. This is due to muscle breakdown being much greater with crash dieting. Less muscle means a lower metabolic rate, which can end in more weight gain.

When crash dieting, the body is not receiving all of the minerals and vitamins it needs to keep a strong immune system. A low immune system means that getting sick is much more likely. Your body requires vitamins A, D, E, and K in order to maintain a healthy immune system.

Due to a low carbohydrate diet, your body will start to break down fatty acids in order to produce ketones. Ketones might help the body to lose weight, but they also can damage the body. Ketones can cause nausea, bad breath, and liver and/or kidney problems.

The body loses so much weight in certain types of liquid diets because it is losing such large amounts of water weight. While effective, it is an unhealthy long-term weight loss method. Glycogen stores (the source of energy that binds water) are depleted faster than the fat cells that release the water. Once you start eating again, your body will gain back weight trying to replenish glycogen and water stores. This will cause dehydration

A crash diet can lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels. Even so, it can have harmful effects on the heart. Due to increased heart fat levels, a dieter can experience heart problems early on in their diet.

Alternative Ways to Lose Weight

Crash dieting is not a healthy or safe way to lose weight. Instead, you should consider some different weight-loss methods. Reduce the intake of alcohol, sugary foods, and foods with trans fats. Include more proteins, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains in your diet. Partake in physical activity daily and take part in exercise 150 minutes per week.

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