Dieting is an arduous under-taking. It can be costly, tiring and emotionally draining as you dash from health food store to organic co-op searching for a recommended liver cleanser or unprocessed grain, forking out enough dollars to buy a personal training session for a bag of some tasteless, inscrutable food fashion. Fad diets, or crash diets, are ineffective gimmicks playing on your need to fix a time-dependent issue quickly. Those few extra kilos didn’t creep on in a couple of weeks, they aren’t budging for the long-term and if they disappear for a short while, they’ll often pop up again after you’ve fallen off the ridiculous, restrictive band wagon. Sustained weight loss can be achieved through a healthy, balanced diet and an active exercise calendar; fad diets can deprive your body of essential vitamins, encourage eating disorders and organ complications – one compound (ephedrine) has been linked to fatalities. Which fad diets are the worst?
The Baby Food Diet
Those cute little jars on the supermarket shelves are finding their way into designer handbags, being touted as the newest craze in Hollywood and catwalk nutrition. While a limited rationality cannot deny chowing down on minuscule jars of pureed vegetables, meats and fruit will strip kilos away if portions are limited, there is no exit plan when Baby Food devotees tire of infant mash and venture again into complex food groups and servings that require an edge of self-control. Baby food is also devoid of calcium, fibre and Vitamin D – babies and adults have different nutritional needs.
The Alcorexia /Drunkorexia Diet
This insane alternative was either developed by fiscally deprived University students or pampered Hollywood stars. Dieters are required to consume very few food based calories for the week, restricting meal choices to a collective 1000-1500 calories a day, reserving 10,500 calories for alcoholic beverages. Putting it into health perspective, an average glass of wine or light beer contains one unit of alcohol; dieters can then extrapolate and guzzle 131 units and be within the calorie limitations. The Drunkorexia diet will reduce your body into a weak, lethargic, irritable shell as the best case scenario. The worst case? Routine alcohol poisoning, liver failure and death.
Low-Carb Diets
A new low-carb diet appears on the internet every day, claiming to have the solution to your weight problems. A book or website cannot change your life. Only you can. Low carb options encourage dieters to forgo sugar and carb rich foods, insisting your body is in a state of perpetual hungry chaos due to these evil group. The short and long term effects vary from promise to promise; at the very least, low-carb diets can result in marginal and major vitamin deficiencies, nausea and lethargy.
Fad diets are harmful fashion statements, promoted by men and women who have an entourage of personal chefs, shoppers, trainers and yoga teachers to keep them in shape. Don’t be fooled by magazine images and last minute promises; Medicare Local can help you develop a meaningful health plan, emphasising balance and activity, to lead to a healthier you.
