A crash diet is a weight-loss diet
undertaken on an urgent, short-term basis with the aim of achieving very rapid
results. Crash diet helps you lose tons of weight in no time. But new
research has found out that crash diet can be very harmful to the heart while
the National Institute of Health (NIH) warn that crash diet could be
dangerous as a crash diet deprives the body of the essential nutrients it need
to function properly.
Other adverse health effects that
scientists have warned about crash diets include slowing down of
metabolism, weakening of the immune system, and the increasing chances of
dehydration and arrhythmia.
Dr. Rayner explains that crash diets
have a very low-calorie content of 600 to 800 calories per day and can be
effective for losing weight, reducing blood pressure and reversing diabetes.
A Research conducted by Dr. Rayner
and her colleagues shows that after just a week, body fat levels decreases.
Specifically; the amount of total body fat fell by an average of 6 percentage
points while visceral fat; the fat around our internal organs, fell
by 11 percent and liver fat decreased by 42 percent.
Even though crash diet revealed
some important health benefits after just 1 week: better insulin
resistance and healthier levels of total cholesterol, blood sugar, and
blood pressure. But heart fat levels rose by 44 percent. And this change
correlates with dysfunctions in the heart's ability to pump blood.
Crash dieting causes sudden drop in
calories and this sudden drops causes fat to be released from different parts
of the body into the blood and be taken up by the heart muscle.
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The heart muscle prefers to choose
between fat or sugar as fuel and being swamped by fat worsens its function.
After the acute period in which the body is adjusting to dramatic calorie
restriction, the fat content and function of the heart improved.
As a consequence, Dr. Rayner warns
about the extra caution that those with a heart condition need to take before
starting a crash diet. She advise that those with heart problems
should check with their doctor before embarking on a very low-calorie diet
or fast. People with a cardiac issues could well experience more symptoms at an
early point in time; and therefore advised that the diet should be supervised.
She also adds that very low-calorie
diets need not be avoided altogether, as they do not have any benefits. Healthy
people may not notice the change in heart function in the early stages,"
she says. "But caution is needed in people with heart diseases.
Consult your doctor before going on a crash
diet.
By Mercy Kukah
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