Fad Diets
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A Fad Diet is a diet which is usually followed by people desperately wanting to lose weight, but it is unbalanced and unhealthy. We may see advertisements of magical diets but the fact is that they are Fad diets and they do not work. They are even very likely to cause side-effects.
Most of the time, fad diets do not work. Well, sometimes, they may seem to work, at the beginning. Fad diets cannot make up for healthy eating habits.
Some fad diets do not make you lose fat, but make you lose water instead. Many fad diets require pills or food which promote dieresis, or increased urination. In this way, you will lose water, together with some important vitamins and minerals. The density of water is 1g/cm3, so if you lose 1 liter of water, you will lose 1 kg body weight. Similarly if you lose 1 pint of water, you will lose 1 pound of body weight.
Some other fad diets work, but are unbalanced and lack the taste and nutrition of a healthy diet. You may find it difficult to maintain such an unappealing and boring diet. As time passes, you may lose weight, but soon find yourself gorging on more goodies and gaining more weight than your weight before the fad diet.
Fad diets can be dangerous too and can even lead to death. This is because they lack the nutrients and energy that the body needs. A diet too low in calories may lead to feeling tired, irritable, and experiencing muscle cramps. Lack of protein and carbohydrates can also lead to dizziness, fatigue and other illnesses.
You should not experiment with fad diets without consulting your doctor. If you sense anything wrong, stop the diet immediately. Be warned that fad diets have a low chance of success and can cause side-effects to your body.
This page has been authored for participation in
the 1997 Thinkquest Competition.
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