Crash diets are popular for many reasons. Losing weight quickly can seem very appealing. It’s often much easier to think about severely restricting our day-to-day habits for a short period of time than it is to think about long-term, sustainable life changes.

However, rapid weight-loss through behavior modification (commonly referred to as crash dieting) can pose many health risks. Those risks should always be considered in relation to any rewards you’re seeking if you want to manage your weight healthily.

Risks of Crash Dieting

If you’re planning to start a new diet, make sure it’s not a crash diet that could negatively impact your health. Rapid weight-loss such as that experienced on crash diets can be accompanied by numerous health risks – including (but not limited to):

Poor Nutrition

When you dramatically reduce what you eat and restrict certain foods, it can be very hard to meet your body’s nutritional requirements for optimal health.

Gallstones

Gallstones form when substances in bile crystallize and the crystals grow together. Gallstones can later increase in size to cause pain and illness. Up to 25 percent of individuals who use diets that are very low in calories (800 calories per day or less) develop gallstones.

Loss of Lean Body Mass

When someone loses a lot of weight, some part of that weight is always likely to be lean body mass (muscle and bone) rather than fat. Overall loss of lean body mass is associated with poor health, especially as we age.

The Rebound Effect

When you lose weight, one of the hardest things to do is to keep it off. Many will find they regain the lost weight faster than they lost it after drastic dieting found in crash diets.

Keep in Mind…

An important rule of thumb to keep in mind is this: If it sounds too good to be true, than it probably is. Crash dieting may seem like a quick and easy way to reach your weight-loss goals, but they’re oftentimes dangerous not sustainable in the long-haul.