Worst Weight Loss Advice You've Ever Heard | Weight Loss slideshows | Well Being center

Can You Lose Weight This Quickly?

Some websites claim that they have invented a way of losing weight really quickly. But the problem is reliability. Losing weight fast is possible, but there are limits. If you lost weight faster than your body can handle, there will be serious health issues that will cause even more problems than the extra weight. There is no technically specified safe maximum rate of weight loss, but two to three pounds per week is ideal for a healthy adult. If you have any medical conditions like heart, kidney or liver diseases, your weight loss regimen and diet need professional medical attention.

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Nutritional Medicine by Alan R Gaby

Detox Diet

Detox diets claim that they can remove harmful compounds from the body and promote weight loss. Many detox diets consist of extremely low-calorie foods as well as various natural and artificial supplements. These diets are designed to appeal to the vulnerabilities and fears of individuals and use fear as a marketing tool. The initial weigh reduction experienced by detox dieters is fluid loss. This is, in some ways, similar to the weight loss of children suffering from diarrheal illness. You may lose weight, but will also rapidly regain it after cessation of the diet. Extreme dieting will cause muscle loss — when you stop the diet, that loss will be replaced with fat.

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Nutritional Medicine by Alan R Gaby

Diet Pills

Diet pills are not essential. They may be prescribed if your body mass index exceeds 30 or you have a condition that is directly linked to obesity, such as diabetes or high blood pressure. Recent guidelines suggest that these pills should be avoided altogether. Some diet pills contain addictive substances. Most of the prescription diet pills show potential only in the first few months of dieting. After a while, the net effect obtained will dwindle. This is called tolerance. Many diet pills have various adverse effects. Most are mild and related to the gut. Dry mouth, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping pain, diarrhoea as well as increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, drowsiness can occur.

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Cabbage Soup

The cabbage soup diet consists of cabbage soup as the main course with potatoes, fruits, vegetables, small amounts of milk and beef. The cabbage soup diet provides a significantly lower amount of daily calories than deemed safe. It offers nearly no proteins and is high in sodium content because salt can be added to make it palatable. The only positive point to the dieter is that he can have as much cabbage soup as he wants. Because of its taste and the very low amount of calories, many dieters feel unable to cope with the diet and some complain of giddiness, nausea and vomiting. It is important to understand the weight loss achieved through this diet is mainly water, rather than fat.

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Calorie Shifting

Varying the amount of daily calories without exceeding the weekly estimated energy requirement is called calorie shifting. Dieters calculate the energy requirement for one week using common tables, and plan the whole week's diet ensuring that each is different. This diet plan is cumbersome, restrictive in essentials in some cases, and does not show added gains for extra effort put in. This diet has no scientific evidence to support it. The only sound argument proponents of this diet use is that calorie restriction will always lead to weight loss, so calorie shifting must cause weight loss if dieters restrict calories.

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Total Fasting

Total fasting will indeed reduce weight. Total fasting plus exercise will significantly increase the rate of weight loss. Animal studies on total fasting show that the weight lost during the period of fasting was six percent proteins, 56 percent fat, 38 percent water and one percent minerals. Short-term fasts in controlled conditions within the safety of a hospital have not been shown to cause any drastic side effects (in a research environment). In the case of longer starvation period, severe complications such as fluctuating blood pressure, gout, and lactic acidosis have occurred. Sudden regain of weight after cessation of starvation was a disappointing outcome of most of the studies. Acute gastritis was a common side effect of total fasting.

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Postgraduate medical journal of Royal Postgraduate medical school and Prince of Wales’ general hospital, London

Apple Cider Vinegar Diet

There are no well-designed studies to support the claim that the apple cider vinegar diet reduces weight. Preliminary studies have shown that vinegar may reduce blood sugar levels, cholesterol levels and blood pressure. It may also induce satiety. Although these studies show promise, they are a far cry from conclusive evidence. Apple cider vinegar is highly acidic and frequent long-term ingestion may cause gastric and duodenal ulcers. It may also interact with certain drugs interfering with absorption. Apple cider vinegar may reduce bone density and reduce blood potassium levels. Therefore, those with kidney diseases, diabetes, osteoporosis and other bone diseases may experience detrimental effects from apple cider vinegar.

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The Grapefruit Diet

Grapefruit was first bred in Barbados. In 100 grams of grapefruit, you'll find 11 grams of carbohydrate (44 calories), 0.1 grams of fats (0.4 calories), and 0.8 grams of proteins (3.2 calories). It is high in Potassium (K), Magnesium (Mg), vitamin C (ascorbic acid), and vitamin A (retinoic acid). Because of their high antioxidant content, grapefruits protect against cell damage. Lycopene and N-argenine are the main antioxidants in grapefruit. Grapefruit contains pectin, a dietary fiber that reduces glucose absorption in the gut and provides bulk to stools and reduces constipation. Due to its low calorie content, it is a good dietary choice but there is no scientific evidence to suggest that it helps to increases fat metabolism.

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Green Tea Diet

The green tea diet consists of drinking four 8 oz glasses of green tea a day. You drink the first glass just after you wake up. Each subsequent glass is consumed just before the main meals. The benefits of this practice are: 1. You eat less because it fills you up 2. Due to high antioxidant levels, it protects against cell damage 3. It reduces the low density lipoprotein levels (bad cholesterol) A study done in Japan in has concluded that individuals who consume green tea experience faster weight loss. It is important to make sure that you get at least the minimum daily energy requirement in the form of a balanced diet while consuming green tea because green tea does not contain any calories. A reasonable level of calorie restriction is warranted.

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The Right Way To Lose Weight

The basic principle of weight loss is to burn more calories than you consume. You should calculate your daily energy requirement, for instance with charts available on the internet. If you are overweight, you can limit your calorie intake in a reasonable manner. Do not go to extremes as it will only be harmful in the long run. Find out what types of food are available locally within a low price range. You do not need fancy food items to reduce weight. Keep it cheap and cheerful. Find out the nutrient content of each food item. The general rule is to consume 50 percent carbohydrates, 30 percent proteins and 20 percent fats. Keep this general routine in mind while planning the diet. As long as you are within the calorie limits, you can consume any food item you want. Just make sure you are not allergic to it and it does not interfere with any medications or medical conditions you might have.