Blogs

In the richest circles of Victorian England, bizarre customs ran rampant. But perhaps none was as strange as the tapeworm diet, in which dieters swallowed an unhatched tapeworm and allowed it to grow in their bodies by eating undigested food. Obviously, this is a very dangerous and unhealthy way to control weight. However, while modern fad diets are not usually so extreme, they promise similar results, specifically rapid weight loss.

So, are there any fast weight-loss diets that actually work? Are any of them actually healthy for you? To answer these questions, let's consider a thought experiment. Sam and Felix are identical twins who are both planning to lose weight. They have the same height, weight, fat, and muscle mass. But Sam wants to lose weight slowly, while Felix wants to quickly. Sam's plan was to gradually reduce his calorie intake and increase his regular exercise. As the amount of energy coming in decreased and the amount of energy expended increased, an energy deficit developed in his body. To compensate, Sam's body began to break down his emergency glucose supply and store it in the liver as glycogen. Then, four to six hours later, his body begins to burn fat cells as its primary energy source. This process releases lipid droplets, broken down into compounds that float in the bloodstream and provide energy for organs and tissues. Felix aims to create a similar energy deficit by drastically cutting his calorie intake. Unlike Sam, who still eats smaller amounts of food, Felix eats almost nothing. His body responded by going into a starvation response. Felix's body broke down all his emergency glucose stores in 18 hours. While Sam steadily replenished glycogen at every healthy meal, Felix's low-calorie diet did not. With a craving for energy, his body began to break down other substances, including his muscles. Meanwhile, Sam's regular exercise was maintaining his muscle mass. This means he is burning more energy during exercise and rest, making it easier for him to lose weight.

On the other hand, Felix is losing muscle mass and burning fewer calories than before for his basic bodily functions, making weight loss more difficult. Nonetheless, one element of Felix's fast diet may have led him to believe he was on the right track. Each gram of glycogen is combined with a few grams of water. This can add up to two kilograms of water; when glycogen is depleted, all the water is lost. For Felix, it may seem like he's losing weight fast. However, once he stops starving, his body replenishes its glycogen stores and regains those pounds. Clearly, Felix's plan does more harm than good. Still, an extreme calorie reduction diet isn't the only option that promises rapid weight loss. "detox diets" promote or restrict certain foods to provide large amounts of specific nutrients. These plans help address some nutritional issues but are too specific to be used as a general panacea. For example, a juice diet may be helpful for someone low in vitamin A. But for someone with high vitamin A levels, juicing may be disastrous.

Regardless of an individual's nutritional status, maintaining a juice diet for multiple weeks may damage the immune system due to the lack of essential fats and proteins. Here's the problem with all these fast diets - whether you're cutting calories or food groups, extreme diets are a shock to your system. There are excellent rates of healthy weight loss when motivated by diet and exercise, taking into account genetic and medical differences. And maintaining those schedules requires a sustainable dietary lifestyle. In fact, some of the worst side effects of extreme diets are rarely discussed because few people stick to them. Instead of losing weight fast, we should all take the time to figure out the healthiest lifestyle that works for us.