Extreme diets…either you have tried one (or many) or you know someone who has. We know in the long run they don’t work for 99% of us, but do we know why? Do we know some of the potential dangers? Here are some that in my work, I have come across time and time again…
High protein (over 40% of overall intake of calories for an extended time)~can lead to calcium loss and a taxing load on the liver and kidneys. This can lead to severe problems such as kidney stones, ketosis, and more serious outcome; failure to these vital organs. In addition, if the protein chosen is also heavy with saturated fats (meats, skin, dairy, etc) this can be dangerous to our arteries to state only one potential issue.
Low protein (less than 15% of overall intake of calories for an extended time) can lead to muscle breakdown. Our bodies can hold / store glucose (sugar/carbs) and we all know our bodies can hold on to fat (darn it) but we cannot store protein. So, once our bodies use and breakdown the protein (typically in a few hours) and we don’t don’t give it more, it will search for protein elsewhere and you guessed it…the body steals from our muscles. How depressing is to think of the hours spent in training building muscle, just to cannibalize it? Low protein can also cause decreased circulation, anemia and lethargy.
Low fat (less than 15% of our diet for an extended period of time) can lead to malabsorption of nutrients as well as loss of memory, brain function, some cancer growths and depression, as well as the inability to repair of our central nervous system. There are vital nutrients such as Vitamin A, D, E and F which need fats in order to be absorbed into our bodies sufficiently so without fat, we cannot utilize them. Lack of fat as well as lack of protein (above) will cause high blood sugar too!
Low calories (less than your basal metabolic rate for an extended period of time) can lead to a slowing of the metabolism ultimately causing weight gain (once we start eating normal again) or more severely, we could have certain systems in our bodies shut down for lack of overall nutrition. Low calories in one’s diet over time can lead to extreme fatigue as well as electrolyte imbalances.
The general theme here of course is to avoid these plans; especially for an extended period of time! I know what it feels like to want to choose something fast and extreme because we are desperate at times, but this isn’t the answer.
Like with so many other answers in our lives, having balance, moderation, commitment (this is almost the biggest factor) and looking at something for an overall lifestyle; your PERSONAL overall lifestyle vs. something extreme and in the moment will nearly always get us the solutions and results we are looking for.