The Dangers of Dieting

With 2018 well on its way and the unwanted effects of December’s festivities stubbornly sitting on our waistlines, the natural resolve is a New Year’s resolution or two. While the intention of losing weight is a good one, in our desperation to shed December’s added kilos, we can sometimes turn to some extreme measures (the cabbage diet sound familiar?). These ‘quick fix’ diets may result in the promised weight loss but at what cost?

Missing Nutrients

Eating is more than just weight management and should focus on feeding our bodies the nutrients they need. Including a variety of foods is a key component to meeting your nutritional needs and therefore diets that focus on cutting out or severely restricting a food group (like fats or carbohydrates) or focus on a single food, such as the infamous Cabbage Soup or Grapefruit diets, can result in deficiencies. Some diets that are highly restrictive in calories, or total energy intake, can mean that you’re simply not getting in enough food to meet all your nutritional needs. Here are a few examples of common nutrients that your body could be lacking on a quick fix diet.

• Essential fatty acids

Essential fatty acids, which include omega 3 and 6, are named so because your body is unable to synthesize them and relies on diet as its only source of these fats. These fats are found in plant oils such as olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocados and oily fish. They play a role in regulating inflammation, help with blood clotting and have known benefits in improving brain function during ageing. Diets very low in fat or total calories can put you at risk of an essential fatty acid deficiency.

• Vitamin D

Although we can produce our own vitamin D through exposure to sunlight, diet is still an important source. Found in fatty fish such as tuna and salmon and, to a lesser extent, egg yolks and mushrooms this is a vitamin that many of us might be deficient in under normal circumstances. With a highly restrictive diet (either in calories or food variety) and you might be at even greater risk of deficiency and considering the key role Vitamin D plays in bone health and immunity, that’s something worth avoiding.

• Iron and B12

Vegetables like spinach and kale are recognised as a source of iron but the iron they contain is less bioavailable than that found in animal proteins like red meat and chicken. This means the body first needs to alter the iron found in vegetables, dairy and eggs (non-heme iron) before it can be absorbed, and consequently only 5-12% of the iron is absorbed. In comparison 20-30% of the iron found in animal products (heme iron) is absorbed, and so diets with a low protein content, like juice diets, will be low in sources of heme iron.

Vitamin B12 is found primarily in dairy, eggs and animal proteins, so those following a plant-based diet are at a higher risk of deficiency. Low iron and B12 levels can both result in anemia which can cause symptoms like low energy and a compromised immune system.

Health complications

• Gallstones

Weight cycling (repeatedly losing and gaining weight) as well as very rapid weight loss have been linked to an increased risk of gallstone development. It is believed that the sudden reduction in calories reduces the gallbladder’s ability to empty properly and causes your liver to release additional cholesterol into your bile (a substance which aids in fat digestion), increasing your chance of developing gallstones.

• Constipation

Cutting out the carbs results in a reduction of your fibre intake. These carbohydrates are usually replaced by low fibre foods such as proteins and fats, making it difficult to stay regular. Whole grains, fruits and vegetables are important sources of fibre that should be part of your everyday intake.

Mood and Motivation

In my experience, those who resort to extreme diets are more likely to binge and have an unhealthy relationship with food, making it more difficult for them to keep the weight off in the long term. And then are more likely to resort to the next quick fix, and so the cycle continues. Sustainability is an essential ingredient of every diet and so before being lured by the promise of a bikini body in less than a week, we must consider the long-term implications of the next diet fad.