How Dieting Affects Your Body

How+Dieting+Affects+Your+Body

At one point or another, almost everyone has looked in the mirror and thought, “I could lose a pound or two.” Hundreds of dieting methods exist ranging from various exercises, meal plans, and surgeries. Diets can be a positive method to maintain overall wellness and a healthy weight  and can have many great benefits if done correctly and safely.

Believe it or not, a healthy diet can affect your mood. When you lack key nutrients like calcium, magnesium, and vitamin B12, your mood can drop causing depression, anxiety, and other mood swings. Adding healthier alternatives like fruit, fish, and eggs to a diet can positively affect your mood. Dieting can also result in clearer skin. Eating greasy food and not drinking enough water can be to blame if breakouts and irritated skin is common. Making sure to drink enough water is crucial to your health; 64 ounces daily is the daily recommendation.

Another obvious effect of dieting is weight loss. One of the biggest reasons people feel the need to go on a diet is because they are unhappy with their current weight. Dieting in a healthy way can help you drop a few extra pounds. Cutting back on unnecessary calories and fats will not only help from gaining weight but also help fight the risk of diabetes and high blood pressure.

If you plan on starting a diet, you should also be aware of the dangers associated with unhealthy dieting. While it can be beneficial for mood and weight loss, attempting to lose weight in a bad way can have harmful and possible long term effects on your body. There are many rapid weight loss plans that exist. Most of the time these fall into a category of starvation diet, diet pills/supplements, or low calorie diets.

Starvation diets are a popular form of weight loss. One method of weight loss is called the “lemonade diet.” This involves creating a cleanse in which lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and water are mixed together and consumed up to twelve times a day. Beyonce has been known to try this diet and lost twenty pounds in a matter of only ten days. While the diet seems promising, it is dangerous because you are not allowed to consume solid food while on this diet. The side effects include dizziness, nausea, headaches, and in extreme cases, fainting. Reports also show that participants gained back the extra weight a few days after stopping the diet, returning back to their regular eating habits. This is just one of the many diets out there used for rapid weight loss.

Although some diets can seem harmless, many of them have harsh side effects that could potentially lead to eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia. All diets should be done with caution and it’s always best to speak to a doctor before starting any kind of new dieting plan.