Is Dieting Bad for You?

You must have come across various diet plans which promise magical results as far as weight loss is concerned. We have the famous Atkins diet plan, general motors diet plan, no carbohydrates diet, high protein diets and what not. If you have ever tried any of these and have lost weight because of them, you must have seen that you again gained weight within a few days or months of losing it. At least that is what has happened to me every time I have gone on a diet. Not only that, dieting every now and then, had caused a lot of deficiencies in my body. It was then that I consulted a dietitian, who gave me such information about the various diet plans that almost confirmed my doubts about dieting. I would like to share this information with you and hope it will help you to decide whether dieting is good or bad.

Facts on Diets

Most Diets are Unbalanced and Unhealthy
If you look at most of the weight loss diet plans, you will find that many of them involve cutting out one whole food group from the diet. For example, no carbohydrate diet plans, as the name suggests, ask us to refrain from eating all foods that contain carbohydrates. And if you ask any dietitian they will tell you how important it is for the body to get its daily dose of carbohydrates, proteins and even fats. Thus, diet plans like these, although do help in weight loss, but can also cause many deficiencies in the body. So dieting is not good for your health.

Diets cause Energy Loss
Most weight loss diets work because the calorie intake of the person is greatly reduced. When a person eats lesser food and loses weight, his energy levels fall and he may feel very tired because of it. Also, when the body does not get enough fats from the foods that a person eats, it tends to use all the fat cells that are already present in the body, resulting in more loss of energy and the person feeling even more tired. So there is a great possibility that dieting can be harmful.

Results of Diets are Temporary
Well, the main draw back of any diet program is that it puts restrictions on lots of things such as what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat, etc. Most of the people are unable to continue with these restrictions and tend to give up their diet plans midway. Moreover, even if weight loss does happen, the person might not be able to sustain it lifelong, and may again gain weight, once he goes back to his normal diet.

Failed Diet Plans cause Mental Stress
It is not just the body, but the mind too, which gets affected by the various diet plans. Since the failure rate of diet plans is quite high, it has a very high probability of causing stress and anxiety in a person. A person who has gone on a diet a number of times, who either leaves it midway or gains back weight again, may start feeling like a failure and even get depressed and anxious.

Looking at the above-mentioned information, it is quite clear that dieting can be unhealthy, both for the body as well as the mind. For losing weight, the best remedy is to exercise everyday, drink lots of water, follow a balanced diet, which is a mix of all food groups, and eat smaller portions of food as well as smaller meals, five to six times a day.