Nutritionist warns against these 3 famous diets that are dangerous for weight loss

 

Many diets generate widespread enthusiasm thanks to their enticing promises. Between the “miracle” testimonials that invade our screens during commercial breaks and the weight-loss reports we find online, confusion quickly sets in, leading us to believe results that are as attractive as they are dangerous. Nutritionist Hélène Tinevez takes stock in an article in Marie Claire and reviews the diets that are most harmful to our health.

Tapeworm diets, HCG, Cinderella, cotton balls, cigarettes…it’s as if current weight-loss solutions are the Hydra of modern times. Multiplying at will, dozens disappear every day to make way for even more dangerous alternatives, fueling the hopes of thousands of people obsessed with their desire to lose weight.

Slimming: the dictatorship of diets

Claimed by their creators and promoted by their followers, some dangerous diets advocate misleading ideas to increase their following. A few years ago, Inserm (French National Institute for Health and Medical Research) sounded the alarm in a large-scale study on the cult of thinness. The director of the Institute’s Nutrition Unit, Michel Hercberg, expressed his concerns to Le  Parisien  about the research results. According to the expert, 60% of women who are neither overweight nor obese would like to lose weight, a phenomenon that also affects men and that begins in adolescence. Fueled by the dictates of slim figures, it presents numerous health risks, notably by exposing the body to deficiencies in essential nutrients and cardiovascular problems.

Michel Desmurget, a researcher specializing in cognitive neuroscience at INSERM, takes stock of the consequences of unbalanced diets with our colleagues at  France Inter :

• The brain switches to “economy” mode:  The brain conditions the body to expend less energy to perform the same tasks that are essential to it. The result: we eat less but we don’t necessarily lose weight.
• The body experiences a hormonal imbalance:  Leptin, known as the satiety hormone, is disrupted. Its levels decrease following dieting, resulting in a constant feeling of hunger.
• The perceptive system and willpower change with regard to food:  The body becomes a victim of its impulses and has more and more difficulty making the right decisions in the presence of high-calorie foods.

The psychological consequences are not to be outdone. A  report  from ANSES also identified risks of low self-esteem and depression when faced with the feeling of repeated failure of unsuccessful diets.

Given the impact of certain diets on the health of the body and mind, it’s essential to be informed and take stock of the most dangerous ones. This is the approach of  Marie Claire magazine  , which calls on nutritionist Hélène Tinevez to lift the veil on weight loss diets with devastating consequences:

Monomaniacal diets

Focused on the consumption of a single food, monomaniacal diets come in several forms. Pineapple, apple, or even cabbage soup diets promise significant fat loss… to the detriment of our health. Although they allow unlimited consumption of the recommended food, they mainly lead to a profound imbalance, a loss of muscle mass, and dangerous deficiencies for the body. According to the nutritionist, the feeling of failure resulting from these programs that claim to be “easy” can seriously damage self-image.

Water regime

The water diet advocates the consumption of only liquids. Extremely low in nutrients, it relies primarily on the consumption of water, broths, or herbal teas designed to hydrate the body and promote the elimination of toxins. The only problem: this leads to significant muscle loss that doesn’t spare the heart muscle.

In addition, the body is forced to draw on its protein reserves to meet its energy needs and sees its kidney function increase exponentially, this being essential for eliminating all the nitrogenous waste linked to the breakdown of muscle proteins.

Low-carb, low-calorie diets

Rich in protein and fat, “low-carb” diets are very popular for weight loss. However, the absence of carbohydrates on a daily basis inevitably pushes them into the category of restrictive diets. While satisfactory results can appear fairly quickly, the same is true for the dangerous consequences they can cause. Hélène Tinevez mentions in particular an increase in LDL cholesterol levels and slowed transit, concerns shared by nutritionist  Marie Tandonnet  , who also emphasizes the risks of developing cardiovascular disease and persistent headaches combined with lack of energy and fatigue.