On A Diet? Is Your Diet A Health Risk?
Have you noticed that fad diets rise and fall in popularity like
the latest fashions or current pop songs? We've seen (and seen
off) the soup diet; the grapefruit diet; the no carbs diet; the
only carbs diet and so on. I remember as a teenager eating only
hard boiled eggs for a week! I lost a tonne of weight, but I'm
never going to do it again! Are you putting your health at risk
by following a fad diet?
As a result of experimenting with the latest "food exclusion"
diets, many people are actually cutting out entire food groups,
leading to nutritional deficiencies, which could be damaging
their health! While it may seem that cutting out carbs is great
for fast weight loss, there is a very real risk that it will
trigger carbohydrate cravings. Have you ever experience
carbohydrate deprivation? First you become edgy then start to
crave carbs, especially the wrong sort of starchy crabs that are
stored as fat. Many people simply give in and become compulsive,
but those who hold out can suffer severe side effects. Vitamin B
group deficiency is one outcome, leading to fatigue and anxiety.
Did you know the body's main fuel source for energy comes from
carbohydrates? Did you know that carbs also are the brain food
used to fuel it's function? Is it any wonder you carve
high-carb, high-sugar snacks when studying hard, problem solving
or using a computer? Health professionals advise that
eliminating carbs from your diet is counter-productive. A much
better strategy is giving your body the right type of carbs it
requires.
Others cut out meat when dieting, thinking this is the way to
eliminate excess fat from their bodies. By doing so they could
be missing out on important vitamins and minerals such as iron,
vitamin B12 and zinc. Iron deficiency leads to serious
conditions such as anemia.
Protein is an essential building block for the body and is
needed for the growth of new cells and tissues. If you don't eat
meat it is vital to get adequate protein from other sources such
as soy, fish, eggs and chicken.