Even the most gentle diet can have undesirable consequences. And yet, many, wanting to see the changes as soon as possible, are ready to go for the most severe restrictions on food. After all, when only a few weeks are left before an important event, the most important thing is the result. Even if the chosen diet is contrary to common sense. According to nutritionists, a safe rate for weight loss is up to 1 kg per week. If you lose more, serious complications can arise. We list the reasons that make such experiments hazardous to health.
Reason number 1. Decreased immunity
Diets that are high in calorie deficiencies and exclude essential nutrients from the diet increase our susceptibility to infectious disease. Including the coronavirus, nutritionists warn. With this diet, the amount of vitamins and minerals entering the body sharply decreases. This not only weakens the immune system, but also shortens life expectancy, researchers from Stanford found. When a person begins to follow a strict diet, his body is exposed to severe stress. As a result, the concentration of cortisol in the blood rises, a hormone that suppresses the natural inflammatory responses to viruses and bacteria. Another unpleasant consequence of stress, according to experts from the University of Pennsylvania, is an increased craving for sugary foods and high-calorie foods.
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Reason # 2. Failure of the reproductive system
Fans of express diets are faced with malfunctions of the reproductive system. Especially if you combine dietary restrictions with grueling workouts. In women, menstrual irregularities can be caused by a deficiency of essential omega-3 fatty acids or vitamin D - these substances are responsible for the production of female sex hormones. But to get carried away with fiber during diets, on the contrary, is not worth it. American scientists have shown that excess dietary fiber reduces the level of estrogen, which regulates the menstrual cycle. If you lean on fiber, the risk of amenorrhea (absence of menstruation) increases tenfold. At the same time, the greatest influence on the work of the reproductive system is exerted by dietary fiber contained in vegetables and fruits. Another factor that can disrupt your menstrual cycle is high levels of the aforementioned cortisol.
Reason # 3. Mood swings
Sudden weight loss can severely damage the nervous system. Any extreme diet leads to nutritional deficiencies and imbalances in certain hormones: serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, cortisol, and leptin. Because of this, a losing weight person has frequent mood swings, he becomes nervous and irritable. And the endocrine changes that accompany dramatic weight loss can cause depression and anxiety. This conclusion was made by researchers at Harvard Medical School. According to them, estrogen and oxytocin help manage stress. Conversely, low levels of these hormones increase anxiety and cause worrying thoughts. In addition, due to the lack of calories during express diets, the body begins to save resources: we become less active and concentrate worse.
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Reason # 4. Loose skin and wrinkles
Many fast diets provide weight loss by removing fluid from the body. Potential consequences include headaches, increased fatigue, dehydration, and nerve cell death. In addition, due to lack of water, swelling appears, tissues lose elasticity, skin becomes dry, nails - brittle, hair - dull and weak. In addition, the weight that is lost due to the loss of water usually returns quickly. If a person loses several tens of kilograms in a short time, his skin does not have time to respond to changes and sags, and wrinkles become more pronounced.
Another component of beauty and health is fat. At the same time, most extreme diets involve a sharp decrease in their consumption or complete exclusion from the diet.
Reason number 5. Decreased muscle tone
One of the unpleasant results of a calorie deficit is a slowdown in metabolic processes, including fat burning. Thus, the body seeks to conserve every incoming calorie and compensate for energy costs. As a result, not only the "plateau effect" occurs (when the weight freezes at one point), but the synthesis of new muscle fibers slows down. In addition, a sharp reduction in incoming calories forces the body to look for alternative sources of energy. Muscles become one of these: they "burn" much more actively than adipose tissue. The fact is that during stressful diets, survival becomes the main task of the body, and muscles for it are extra ballast that consumes too many calories. Therefore, it "eats" the muscles and triggers lipogenesis - the process of fat storage for a rainy day.
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Reason # 6. Accumulation of fat
The body will continue to increase the amount of adipose tissue - reserve energy reserves, even returning to the usual diet. That is why, after grueling diets, it can be so difficult to maintain the results: the weight almost always returns to its original value or becomes even more. The stress hormone cortisol also contributes to the formation of adipose tissue. This was proved by scientists from Stanford University. An experiment led by a group of biologists led by Mary Teruel showed that mammals with elevated cortisol levels had twice the weight gain compared to controls. Teruel says this happened not only due to the synthesis of new fat cells, but also due to the growth of existing ones. In addition, fast diets disrupt the production of hormones that regulate appetite.
Reason # 7. Gallstones
Lack of adequate nutrition can cause various disturbances in the work of the gastrointestinal tract - bloating, constipation, slowing down of digestion, gastritis, ulcers. The consequences can be even more dire if the low-calorie diet is accompanied by the intake of laxatives, fat burners or special stimulants that suppress hunger. Most of these drugs deplete the body's resources and negatively affect the central nervous system. In addition, rapid weight loss increases the likelihood of developing gallstones. During fat burning, the liver secretes cholesterol into bile. If its concentration becomes too high, bile crystallizes and turns into stones. Anyone who is losing weight who loses more than 1.5 kg of weight per week is at this risk.
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