ArticlesWhy diets don't work DIETS ARE as common as dust; there have been literally thousands of diets. Among the more famous and infamous ones are the Scarsdale Diet, the Beverly Hills diet, the Mayo Clinic diet (nothing to do with the world-famous medical institute in Minnesota), and Dr. Atkins' diet. Just ask yourself this question: If one, or some, of these diets did work, why should new ones be constantly sought after, produced and propelled into the pages of the latest best-seller? There are several reasons why extreme diets don't work, and why some can be downright dangerous. Starvation diets, or total fasts where you subsist on nothing more than, say, a herbal tea mix or nariel pani are so restrictive that they fail to provide the body with adequate nutrition. Fortunately for most people who attempt them, they feel so deprived in a day or two that they speedily get "off' these unattractive diets. If they don't, the consequences can be worrisome. Long-term fasting can result in the loss of lean tissue (muscle) and of minerals in significant amounts. After the starving body has depleted its small store of carbohydrate reserves in the liver and the muscles, it begins to deplete muscle tissue, using up its protein as an energy source. This puts a strain on the vital organs: your body is literally eating them up. In the last stages of starvation, heart muscle can be affected and this along with other complications that occur, such as the body's ability to absorb nutrients being impaired can lead to death. If you try to fight your bulges with the one-two ruthlessness of Rambo punches which is what starvation diets are you'll find that your body will fight you in turn. Starvation diets also generally hint at an underlying psychological disturbance such as anorexia nervosa. Single-food diets, like that grand-daddy of the food regimen, the grapefruit diet, can create deficits of essential nutrients. You get scores of variants on the theme; the fruit-only diet, the raw-vegetables-only diet. The idea that certain foods, such as grapefruit or pineapple, are particularly effective in slimming you down is not supported by scientific evidence. Single-food diets, even when buttressed by a vitamin and mineral supplement, are nutritionally unbalanced. A diet comprising solely raw vegetables, for instance, would result in not only a serious inadequacy of protein and most minerals, besides some of the vitamins, but also because of the high fibre content would predispose you to bloating and intestinal gas. And single-food diets do not generally produce lasting weight loss since they are virtually impossible to maintain on a long-term basis. It doesn't take long to tire of only pineapples or only boiled potatoes and to fall off your programme. Any diet that does not key in variety and interest is doomed to bite the dust. Formula diets. Available in liquid or in powder form, they typically provide less than 1200 calories a day, yet claim to contain your daily requirement of all nutrients. That is virtually impossible, and deficiencies of certain minerals, including folic acid, zinc and magnesium, are fairly common in meal-in-a-glass diets. Such very-low-calorie diets can also put their their users at risk for serious health problems such as gallstones. The unsupervised use of the earliest over-the-counter liquid diets caused scores of deaths and severe side-effects. One "liquid protein diet," which advertised itself as the "last-chance diet", provided 300 calories daily. Its constituents were obtained from inferior sources of protein such as animal hide, tendon and bone. Remarkable weight reduction of 15 to 20 kg and more occurred. But 46 dieters died; they included 15 women who had had no previous history of heart disease, yet died from irregular heartbeats. The heart disturbances were suspected to be caused by deficiencies of magnesium and copper. This was one diet that literally starved people to death. Unbalanced Diets. These diets emphasise one source of calories while asking you to virtually eschew others. They come in three basic variants: The high-protein diet: Carbohydrate is your enemy here; protein, your comrade-in-arms. Since foods that are high in protein are also typically high in fat, these diets are usually high in fat, too. The daily menu centres around meats, cheeses and eggs, with only a miserly ration of carbohydrates allowed each day: about 20 grams a day, or what you'd get from one large apple or a slice and a half of bread. Lunch may be a bunless bacon cheeseburger with a small salad. High-protein diets first became the rage in the 70s, with "Dr. Robert Atkins' Diet Revolution"; they saw a grand revival in the mid-90s with Atkins' re-hashed, "New Diet Revolution," Dr. Barry Sears' "The Zone" and other best-sellers in the genre. In Atkins' menu you get a portion of bacon and eggs for breakfast, but no breakfast cereal, no bread, no fruit or fruit juice. Though high in protein and fat, portions in these diets are kept small enough so that they are actually low-calorie diets in disguise. No wonder then that you lose weight at first. Starved of its primary fuel, carbohydrates, your body first uses up its small store of this energy source from the liver, simultaneously releasing the water stored with it. This initial water loss makes you a few kilos lighter. You'll also experience other adverse effects: weakness, dizziness, headaches, even diarrhoea. After carbohydrates are depleted, your body starts consuming itself using up its stores of protein, mainly from muscle. Finally, it starts on its stores of fat. But without carbohydrates, your body burns fat incompletely, causing the release of a chemical called ketone into the bloodstream. Ketones not only give you rotten-apple breath, they also make you feel queasy and lightheaded. As they build up in the bloodstream, they cause a rise in blood levels of uric acid a risk factor for gout and kidney failure. When they are excreted in the urine, they take along with them sodium and potassium. Sodium loss causes extreme thirst and, in severe cases, can bring on dehydration; potassium loss can bring on cardiac arrhythmia. Ketosis, as the condition is called, is a serious complication and can result in coma. The high fat in these diets has been found in research to raise levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol by 35 per cent, and to lower levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol by 10 per cent, which seriously raises the risks of heart disease and heart attack. High-protein diets can be used for only a short time and are dangerous for anyone with diabetes, a kidney disorder and other medical conditions. And finally, of course, in the long run they just don't work. It's not just that the diet loses its appeal in a few weeks, but also that your body adapts, nausea subsides, hunger returns, lost kilos come creeping back. The high-fat diet. This regimen requires the complete elimination of carbohydrates during the initial weeks, with very small amounts added during successive weeks. It produces the inevitable result of ketosis. Such a diet is hazardous for someone with heart disease-or at risk for developing it. The diet also causes diarrhoea, loss of the fat-soluble vitamins (A,D,E and K), hypotension (low blood pressure), dehydration and kidney irritation. The low-carbohydrate diet. This restricts the amount of bread, sugar, tubers (eg. potatoes, yam), and grains that you eat, while keeping protein and fat to normal amounts. Most such diets are adaptations of a now-obsolete American Diabetes Association diet for diabetics. Low-carbo diets cause rapid initial weight loss, mainly because of the body ridding itself of water and salt. After a week to two weeks, you'll reach a plateau and your weight won't budge for several weeks after that. After only a few days on these diets, most people experience fatigue, hypotension (low blood pressure) and dizziness. *24\332\2* |
