Fad diets are the popular diets touted to make you thin or to cure a certain health problem you may have. Fad diets come and go. Examples of fad diets are the Atkins Diet, the Weight Watchers Diet, and the South Beach Diet, among many others.
Nearly all of these fad diets are based on the principle of calorie restriction - which essentially means depriving yourself of food or eating only certain types of food while avoiding others, and following diligently some set of rules of eating.
Unfortunately, many of these fad diets failed for two reasons.
Firstly, many individuals fail to adhere to these dieting plans. They do not have the discipline to follow through the set of rules of eating dictated by each fad diet plan. They succumb to the urge of eating. Who would blame them? After all, normal eating is a normal instinct in any individual. To force oneself to eat abnormally is against human instinct. Abnormal eating creates behavioral problems, which often lead to addictive behaviors and food addiction problems, such as anorexia and bulimia.
Secondly, dieting impairs your body's metabolism, which ultimately will turn back on you. Diets, even the relatively healthy ones, are only short-term solutions to your weight or health problems. Down the road, these fad diets will create more problems than what they have solved.
For years, many nutrition experts have warned against going for fad diets, which often promote unhealthy preoccupation with food, instead of normal eating. Abnormal or unhealthy eating behaviors play havoc with your body's metabolism, which is the rate at which you burn calories. Your metabolic rate holds the key to weight loss. When you go on a fad diet, you are in fact "starving" your body, which, out of its natural instinct for survival, will automatically reduce its metabolic rate. As a result, you are not exactly losing the weight you so desperately wish to lose. The initial weight loss from any fad diet may be only the loss of water due to the sudden change in your eating patterns, not the extra pounds you want to shed. Worse, when you stop dieting, you metabolic rate goes up again, but not to where it originally was; in other words, yo-yo dieting (on-and-off dieting) may lead to malfunctioning of your body's metabolism until it can no longer burn calories efficiently. The implication is that your body has learned to maintain its weight with fewer calories. In other words, your effort in dieting has been a waste of good intentions. The net result is ultimate weight gain for you, not the weight loss you had hoped for.
Dieting is only a temporary weight control solution. According to dietitians, unless you change your lifestyle, or can adhere diligently and persistently to your chosen diet regimen for the rest of your life, losing weight permanently is impossible.
The danger of embracing one fad diet after another is that your overt preoccupation with your weight and appearance, such as counting calories, carbohydrates, and worrying about fat content of you food, may turn into an obsession, which will develop into eating disorders down the road.
(More on eating disorders in the next article)
Copyright (c) 2008 Stephen Lau
Eating disorders are among those modern conditions which aren't always taken seriously by the wider population, but which can have very serious effects for its victims. Indeed, far from being a minor problem which sufferers can solve simply by 'pulling themselves together', many of the eating disorders commonly seen are recognized psychological conditions which if left untreated can even turn out to be fatal. For this reason it's very important to spot any early signs of eating disorders in yourself, your family, or friends and colleagues, so that treatment can be started while the problem remains relatively easily coped with.
No one knows for sure how many people are affected by the main disorders, namely anorexia and bulimia, as the official figures inevitably under report the true extent of the problem. One of the features of these conditions, and anorexia in particular, is a lack of awareness in the sufferer that they actually have a problem, and so they naturally don't seek help. In the case of bulimia (binge eating compulsive eating), there is also often an element of guilt over what the sufferer acknowledges is inappropriate and uncontrolled behavior, again leading to an avoidance of treatment.
Bulimia is far more common than anorexia, with around 10% of women suffering from the former compared to 1% the latter. Among anorexics, around 10% of sufferers will eventually die as a result of the condition, and so should you spot any of the warning signs then medical advice should be urgently sought.
What is for sure is that eating disorders are more common than might be expected, and many consider the problem to be increasing in scope partly because of today's mass media promotion of attaining perfect body images.
Anorexia Nervosa, or plain anorexia as it's usually referred to as, is characterized by an unrealistic perception of ones own body. Sufferers will look into the mirror and see an overweight person looking back at them, however slim they may actually be. This constant desire to be thinner can lead to extreme dieting, excessive and obsessive exercise, and a preoccupation with food and avoiding it that can really take over a person's life. In extreme cases, the self starvation will continue unchecked until it proves fatal, even when the physical evidence that the sufferer is seriously underweight should be overwhelmingly obvious.
The effects of bulimia, on the other hand, may not be visible to outside observers. This disorder is characterized by bouts of hugely excessive eating, followed by purging activities to rid the body of the excess calories. Sufferers will lose control of their eating completely during these periods, gorging themselves way beyond any level of food intake necessary for health. Common methods of purging include self-induced vomiting and overuse of laxatives, and this is usually followed by a sense of self loathing and repulsion at the lack of control shown. The sufferer may also self-starve as both a form of atonement for their behavior and as a self imposed punishment.
While bulimia is not as physically harmful as anorexia, the psychological effects can be devastating, leading to depression and even more serious outcomes including suicide in the worst of cases. The physical signs of bulimia which can be observed tend to be related to the purging methods used, and include regularly bloodshot eyes, swollen glands, and dental erosion. In the long term, the dangers include digestive system problems such as ulcers, weakness and exhaustion, and even heart problems.
Both Stephen Lau & Simone Butler are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Stephen Lau has sinced written about articles on various topics from Chocolate and Health, Fitness and Disease & illness. Stephen Lau is a researcher, writing medical research for scientists. His publications include "NO MIRACLE CURES" a book on healing and wellness. He has also created several websites on health and healing.. Stephen Lau's top article generates over 9900 views. to your Favourites.
Simone Butler has sinced written about articles on various topics from Common Cold, Heart Conditions and Movie Reviews. Simone writes on a range of health and social issues, including such as. Simone Butler's top article generates over 5400 views. to your Favourites.