With spring break just a matter of weeks away, the thought of putting on a string bikini may make you cringe. The solution? A crash diet. The problem? Major health risks.
On the surface, crash dieting seems like the perfect quick-fix to shed those inevitable extra holiday pounds. After all, donning an itsy bitsy bathing suit during spring break vacation will certainly be easier without some of that “extra baggage.”
However, a crash diet entails a drastic short-term decrease of food intake that has consequences that are not only physical, but mental as well.
These diets often consist of a radical reduction of calories and/or the cutting out of an entire food group. Therefore, a person’s body would not receive the essential nutrients it needs to function properly, which could be detrimental to energy level and the immune system.
Crash diets keep attracting body-conscious followers because they seem to work at first. Since the body is receiving less food, it begins using its stored carbohydrates (glycogen). Glycogen and water are stored together in the muscles. Thus, the weight that is lost initially with these diets is actually water weight, according to an article by Dr. Winnie Chan on ivillage.com.
Once the body uses up these stored carbohydrates, it goes into what Dr. Chan calls “starvation mode.” During this period, the proteins in the muscles are used for energy, resulting in loss of muscle mass and release of ketones (a toxin that causes headaches and fatigue).
The body’s metabolism is slow to adjust to the reduced muscle mass and decreased calorie intake. Needless to say, once one returns to a regular eating routine (i.e. after spring break), his or her body is even more susceptible to weight gain.
This return to old eating habits is inevitable, according to Kelly Aronica, MS, Fairfield University’s personal nutrition counselor.
“Like a rubber band snapping, eventually your hunger will overcome your attempts to not eat and you will eat way more than you wanted,” Aronica said. “This can become a dangerous cycle of starving yourself and then overeating.”
In addition to this physical damage, new studies have linked crash dieting to mental impairment, according to the BBC news article, “Crash dieting ‘makes you thick.'”
Evidence was found that the mental ability of crash dieters was lower than those following a steady nutritional diet. For example, the reaction times of non-dieters stood between 350 and 400 milliseconds, while those of crash-dieters ranged from 450 to 500.
This study, done by Dr. Mike Green of the Institute of Food Research in Reading, attributed these mental impairments to the physiological impact of dieting rather than the actual malnutrition.
Crash dieters are so preoccupied by food cravings, lack of self-esteem and their obsession with bogy image and weight loss, that their mental ability can suffer, according to the study.
“A good analogy is like the RAM memory in a computer,” said Green. “There is a set amount of capacity to perform tasks and the more programs you run at the same time, the less memory is available for new tasks.”
“I knew girls in high school who used to crash diet for like two weeks before a dance or vacation,” said Allison Abreu ’08. “I’m not surprised girls try it, but not only does it not work, it jeopardizes your health.”
Aronica said the best way to keep weight off is a balanced meal plan, a regular exercise routine and a safe weight loss goal of 1-2 pounds a week.
The Health Center also offers one-on-one help with implementing a healthy weight-loss plan with Aronica. The first appointment is paid for by the university and can be made by calling ext.2241 or e-mailing KAronica@optonline.net.
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