The Dangers of Food Fads

  • Category: Food
  • August 28, 2017

There are literally thousands of weight loss books, programs, apps, and plans that propagate quick and speedy weight loss using often times extreme methods. Yasmine Haddad, Licensed Clinical Dietician in Dubai details…

Dehydration
With around 80 percent of dieters ultimately regaining their weight back, Haddad explains that it is possible to lose weight rapidly on a fad diet, the flip side is that most of the initial loss is related to a loss of water weight. Some diets in which a lot of food groups and nutrients are eliminated should not be followed more than three to five days.

The Right Diet
Haddad reminds us that healthy and effective dieting is a way of living and suggests if you want to transform your eating habits, work on changing one habit at a time. Start by including fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, nuts, seeds and lean meats and fish. Pay attention to your portions and remember to drink 8 to 10 glasses of water daily.

The Most Popular Fad Diets

Raw Food Diet
This is based on consuming unprocessed, preferably organic, whole plant-based foods which are mostly uncooked.

Risks: Certain nutritional deficiencies can occur on the raw food diet, including: calcium, iron, B12, and protein. Also cooking makes certain phytochemicals easier to absorb, such as beta-carotene in carrots.

Atkins Diet
The diet consists of meats, cheeses, fats, and some leafy green vegetables keeping all carbohydrates to a minimum, and avoiding sugar, white flour, and starchy vegetables.  

Risks: Loss of water weight as a decrease in your carbohydrate intake makes your body burn glycogen. Glycogen contains large amounts of water, so burning glycogen leads to the release of water and increased urination, causing loss of water weight.

Macrobiotic Diet
This diet is based on choosing foods that are less processed and more natural and employing more traditional methods of cooking.

Risks: Certain nutritional deficiencies can occur on the macrobiotic diet, including: Calcium, Iron, B12, Protein, Calories.