The doctors caution that though the so called “super” diets techniques offer a quick fix for fast weight loss the results are short-term.
People find it difficult to adhere to the diets for extended periods of time and start eating nutritionally unbalanced food which brings the pounds bouncing back.
In addition, many fad diets don’t work at all, and some can be dangerous because they’re based on bad or strange ideas.
Professor Hawkey president of the BSG stated, “Doctors have been criticizing fad diet for many years now, blaming the extreme nature of these routines which people find difficult to adhere to, and then end up eating even more unhealthy foods. Some of these diets cause people to eat too much of a certain food type, which actually makes them gain weight.”
Some popular fad diets
Professor Hawkey is quite critical of the current trend of eating raw food to maintain the nutritional attributes and boost energy with live enzymes. He considers it among the most potentially dangerous fad diets.
Components of fruits and vegetables are known to be better absorbed if cooked. Devoid of which, such a diet can cause nausea, kidney and liver problems along with eye infections.
Another is the grapefruit and the alkaline diet which has fat-burning properties. Such diets require the portion of the meals to be tiny—taking in less than 800 calories a day. That’s called starvation.
He seems to have mixed feeling about the Atkins diet that is low in carbohydrates and high in protein. However, he still stresses that it is not healthy and makes people eat lots of fats.
Fad diets promotes obesity and health problems
According to Professor Hawkey, by 2050, only 1 in 10 people will have healthy weight in the UK– which means 9 out of 10 will be overweight or morbidly obese.
He adds that the promotion of unhealthy foods and diets encourages binging and can to lead to obsessions like anorexia, bulimia, orthorexia and malnutrition.
He further adds that diets that retains some nutritional balance and makes an individual lose weight are acceptable but extreme food regimes adopted in the name of health and slimness is aggravating the problem of obesity.
Prof Hawkey said, “The problem facing our society is not the content of our diet but it’s the quantity we are consuming and the consequential impact on obesity. We need to do away with quirky diets and get people to realize what will keep them healthy in the long run.
“Food has been shrouded in myths and fairy tales since time immemorial. But what’s important is to recognize that, despite the popularity of fad diets, we are losing a grip on the fight with obesity.
Professor Hawkey will be sharing his thoughts on diets at the Gastro 2009 Conference, being held in London.
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