Many popular diets promise to help you lose weight in just days or weeks. But it’s important to know that these diets can have some unwanted side effects. Here we’ll take a look at the four possible risks of losing weight fast.
1. Losing Muscle
Most fad diets tend to be very low in calories. As you may know, your body stores all the calories in fat cells and converts them into energy. But when your body doesn’t have enough fats to burn, it will start burning muscle. So even if the diet helps you achieve your desired weight, you may lose muscle instead of body fat.
2. Vitamin and Mineral Deficiencies
Food is your body’s main source of important nutrients that enable its proper function. As a rule, low-calorie diets can’t provide your body with all the vitamins and minerals it needs. This may lead to some nutritional deficiencies that could cause serious health problems. They can include hair loss, weakened bones, as well as impaired immunity.
3. Gallstone Formation
When you eat, your gallbladder releases juices to help speed up the digestion process. But if you’re not eating enough, these juices will stay in the gallbladder. After a while, this may lead to the formation of gallstones, which is one of the major risks of losing weight fast. If they occur, they can cause extreme pain, as well as indigestion.
4. Problems with Metabolism
Your metabolic rate can also suffer as a result of a low-calorie fad diet. The longer you are on the diet, the fewer calories your body will be able to burn. This, in turn, slows down the digestion process, which can cause a number of related problems. What’s more, these changes in your metabolic rate usually persist long after you’ve finished dieting.
Final Word
As you can see, fad dieting and losing weight fast can hamper your health very quickly. According to experts, you should lose no more than 2 pounds per week. If you want to improve your results, you can also add exercise to your regular routine.
