In the race of impressing others, people are losing out on their originality, on their genuineness and on the basic objective of life, i.e., staying healthy. The chief reason is the constant urge to fit in their small societal group or to gain acceptance in it. As a remedy for this need, dieting has become the most common way.
Let us first understand what dieting is. Dieting is the practice of eating food in a regulated and supervised fashion to reduce or maintain the body weight. It is a long term process which includes a more than 6 months period. So it is evident from the definition that it should be a good practice which is helping a person to stay in an even healthier way. But no, today’s generation believes in quick remedies and quick results. They have spoiled the entire idea of dieting by indulging into CRASH DIETING.
• Definition
As the word ‘crash’ suggests, a crash diet is all about losing weight quickly by not following a healthy or an adequate diet but by cutting down on daily consumption of calories which is more than required. It is an unhealthy way opted by the generation. It is about losing 5-20 lbs in a matter of a few days. Ideally, it is advised to lose 0.5-2lbs in a week. Such gradual and controlled weight loss leads to a physically fit lifestyle, unlike crash dieting.
• So moving on from definition to the types of crash dieting:
Lemonade diet:
Initially developed in the 1940s by Stanley Burroughs as a way to flush toxins out of the system, the Lemonade Diet is basically a liquid diet. A 10-day program that requires the person to go without food and only consume a mixture of lemon juice, organic maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and distilled water. This includes low consumption of essential nutrients and low caloric consumption.
Cabbage soup diet:
A seven-day plan that features foods like potatoes, bananas, beef, skim milk and water, with, of course, cabbage soup. It is a diet with very high sodium and risks of less concentration power, overall weakness, and light-headedness. The user experiences a huge water weight loss.
• Now from types, let’s see the drawbacks:
Crash dieting radically restricts the daily calorie intake by missing out on entire food groups. Such diet plans definitely help in losing weight exponentially but it leaves the person unwell and with a lethargic body. These are then being followed by:
Slowing down of metabolism:
This dieting prevents the person from getting the required nutrients and vitamins that the body needs to work properly, it reduces the intake of carbohydrates which is an essential source of energy. It increases the intake of protein which in turn increases the chance of heat stroke. The liver is unable to accept such sudden change and so in turn reduces the metabolism.
Increase in weight:
As the metabolism reduces or stops functioning properly, a person may face an opposite consequence of such dieting. It may face an increase in weight instead of losing it. They are very monotone with very restricted food items.
Mental stress:
As a normal human being is trained to have a meal for a minimum of 5 times and if he is suddenly asked to lower it down to 2-3 times a day then this definitely stresses a person’s mind. It creates chaos and a lack of will power. People sometimes overexert themselves while following such diets and end up demotivating themselves and losing out on their identity.
Loss of life:
People do become slim, do look handsome or pretty and definitely earn the desired body shape but they fail to understand the aftermath of it. In the year 2016, the world witnessed an increase of approximately 15% in the rate of death. The primary reason behind this was the crash dieting.
Now we can conclude safely that there is an appropriate way made for everything. To achieve something a slow and gradual process is what is required, all the shortcuts will lead into a dark tunnel and nothing else. It is true indeed that “slow and steady wins the race”. A slow and a steady diet definitely helps the person to win the race of staying a healthy and a physically fit life. Crash dieting is never an option and neither should it become one.