Crash Diets Cause Serious Harm

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us started spending more time cooking in the kitchen, sometimes due to stress and sometimes due to boredom. This certainly served as therapy for us. However, the pastries, desserts, and various meals we prepared caused us to consume more energy than we actually needed. When we add declining physical activity and changing sleep schedules to this, weight gain became inevitable. Now, with the start of controlled social life and warming weather, many of us have begun asking ourselves: 'How can I lose the weight I gained quickly?' Unthinking crash diets, calorie restrictions calculated without planning, single-food diets, and diets consisting only of liquid foods appear on social media almost daily. Ayça Güleryüz, Nutrition and Dietetics Specialist at Acıbadem Bakırköy Hospital, states: "Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, crash diets should not even be considered. Even though the normalization process has begun, while the coronavirus pandemic continues, you must avoid behaviors that could weaken your immune system. Based on your age, weight, height, and physical activity level, you should plan adequate and balanced meals and set realistic goals that support a weight loss of 0.5-1.0 kg per week." So what health problems can crash diets cause? Ayça Güleryüz, Nutrition and Dietetics Specialist at Acıbadem Bakırköy Hospital, shared 12 health problems caused by crash diets.

Can lead to muscle loss

When you do not provide your body with the energy it needs from food, your body breaks down proteins in your muscles to produce energy. Research presented at the 2014 European Obesity Congress shows that when you lose weight rapidly, you lose 3 times more muscle than when you lose it slowly. In other words, even if you lose weight quickly with crash diets, your physique will probably not look better.

Can damage heart muscle

If weight loss is extremely rapid, the heart muscles can atrophy (the heart muscles gradually wear down and decrease). Additionally, extremely low-calorie diets cause loss of both fluids and minerals such as sodium and potassium, which can lead to ventricular arrhythmias, in other words rhythm disorders.

Causes metabolism to slow down

As a result of decreased muscles due to low-calorie diets, your body's metabolic rate (the number of calories you burn at rest) automatically decreases. "This means you burn fewer calories while walking and even exercising," warns Nutrition and Dietetics Specialist Ayça Güleryüz. "Over time, your metabolism eventually slows down enough that you stop losing weight. Moreover, when you quit a very low-calorie diet, you quickly regain the weight you lost, and even more."

Can weaken the immune system

In low-calorie or single-food diets, when you eliminate fats or carbohydrates from your nutrition, you do not get sufficient nutrients, vitamins, or minerals that your body needs. Especially when you severely restrict fat intake, your body cannot absorb fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E, and K. These vitamins function as powerful antioxidants and fight free radicals to prevent infection. Therefore, in their absence, your immune system weakens and your risk of catching diseases increases further.

Raises the risk of depression

In low-calorie diets, especially when there is insufficient carbohydrate consumption, the brain's stress hormone levels increase and the body becomes more sensitive to stress. As a result, the risk of depression increases. "At the same time, it makes you prone to overeating behaviors following a restrictive diet," says Nutrition and Dietetics Specialist Ayça Güleryüz, continuing her explanation: "Furthermore, according to research published in the Journal of Neuroscience, low-carbohydrate diets can cause hypoglycemia, preventing sufficient energy supply for brain function and leading to forgetfulness, lack of concentration, and concentration disorder."

Causes irregular bowel movements

When you do not eat adequately and in a balanced manner, you cannot meet the daily amount of fiber you need. Insufficient fiber consumption in your diet can slow down your bowel movements, causing constipation problems. Additionally, since probiotic or prebiotic food consumption necessary for gut flora cannot be provided with crash diets, gut flora can be disrupted, and as a result, irregular bowel movements can occur, sometimes diarrhea and sometimes constipation.

Can increase insulin resistance

When you lose weight irregularly through crash diet programs, you do not develop permanent eating habits, so you regain the weight you lost in excess. This situation, in particular, can disrupt the normal functioning of the pancreas and cause reductions in the secretion of insulin hormone or in cell sensitivity to insulin hormone. This condition is called 'insulin resistance'. Once insulin resistance develops in your metabolism, losing weight becomes even more difficult.

Can trigger gallstone formation

Rapid and unhealthy weight loss can also significantly increase the risk of gallstone formation. According to studies, 25 percent of people on very low-calorie diets (800 kcal or less) develop gallstones. Additionally, the cycle of regaining weight following low-calorie diets can also increase the risk of gallstone formation.

Can cause headaches

Since carbohydrates, the first energy source used by our body, are consumed near zero in crash diets, ketone bodies are formed in the body to be used in energy production. These molecules can cause headaches as they pass through the blood-brain barrier.

Can cause weakness and fatigue

As a result of deficiencies in vitamins and minerals (B vitamins, iron, etc.) used in the body's energy cycle, problems such as weakness and fatigue can also develop.

Can cause skin dryness and sagging

Nutrition and Dietetics Specialist Ayça Güleryüz notes that vitamin and mineral deficiencies required by the body can also cause problems on the skin and continues as follows: "Due to the lack of these substances and the body becoming dehydrated, skin dryness and problems such as acne can occur. In addition, as a result of rapid weight loss, sagging can appear on the skin, and stretch marks can develop due to excessive stretching of collagen tissue in the skin during the process of rapid weight gain. Skin pallor and brittle nails can also appear as other damages caused by crash diets."

Causes hair loss and dullness

Since low-calorie crash diets do not contain sufficient nutrients, vitamin and mineral deficiencies that occur in the body are also reflected in your hair. Crash diets can make your hair appear lifeless and cause hair loss.