What are crash diets?
Crash diets refer to a variety of dietary approaches that all involve a severe reduction in your calorie intake over a short period of time, for example, the very low-calorie diet (VLCD). Many people try crash dieting to achieve rapid weight loss, although crash diets have been associated with sporting performance and bodybuilding.
Do crash diets ever work?
Whether or not a crash diet works depends on what you are hoping to achieve. Regardless of your goal, it is always recommended to carefully assess the risks and benefits with a specialist medical professional, such as a dietitian.
Crash diets can be dangerous and should not be used for children or pregnant women or if you have health conditions such as heart disease, kidney disease, certain types and stages of liver disease, type 1 diabetes, or gout.
Athletes have used ‘crash dieting’ to try to improve performance but if used in the long-term, they can negatively affect your health. Speaking to a dietitian can therefore help you to make an informed decision about this approach.
Sometimes people need to lose weight quickly in order to have a medical intervention. If this is the case, your clinical care team can provide you with advice about how to do this safely and whether it is appropriate.
If you are living with a heavier weight, with a BMI of over 35, and are looking for a way to achieve long-term weight loss and weight management, crash dieting is ineffective. Research shows that in the long term, crash dieting increases weight. This is because obesity is a complex condition, with multiple factors that affect it.
Why crash dieting doesn’t work for weight management
Restricting your calorie intake and exercising more is not enough to guarantee long-term weight loss if you are living with a heavier weight, particularly if your BMI is over 35. This is because eating habits are only one factor of the multiple causes of obesity. A significant influence for a person’s weight is their set point.
Set point weight refers to a predetermined weight range that your body aims to maintain. This is determined by many factors, which include your biology and genetics and is, therefore, unaffected by your behaviour.
As a result, when you crash diet, your body fights back to maintain its set point weight by making changes, for example, to your metabolism or your hunger signals.
How to achieve sustainable weight loss
It isn’t easy to achieve sustainable weight loss if you are living with a heavier weight, but it is possible with a tailored approach. Every individual body is different, so what works for one of your friends may not work for you.
Our specialist dietitians will be able to assess your weight challenges, including how you have approached weight loss in the past, as well as ask you questions about your lifestyle, family history, mental and physical health.
Our clinical team at Verve Health Group which includes surgeons, endocrinologists, dietitians and psychologists, can then construct a tailored treatment plan to support your weight loss needs.
Have a look at the range of weight loss interventions we provide and then talk to our team about how we can help.
Read the full article on the Spire Hospital website.
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