Almost everyone has either gone on a crash diet or thought about going on one. They offer an exciting change to lose weight very fast and get you some results without a lot of time. So, why avoid crash diets? They require a lot of effort, and in the end they often promote more weight gain than they do weight loss. Let’s look at why.

They Are Stressful!

A crash diet is stressful on the mind and body. First, you have to get calories low enough to continuously cause a serious deficit. For the most part, it is hard to exercise when you are not getting enough calories, so you really have to be careful about what you eat and obsess about your diet. That is not the most stressful part though.

The stress hits when you get hungry but can’t eat. Your body is sending you hunger cues for a reason. Many times it is because your body needs energy or certain nutrients. If you don’t give your body those nutrients you can experience fatigue, intense cravings, irritability, moodiness, and even depression.

Stress releases cortisol. And when you are stressed out for a long period of time (as in the case of crash diets), the cortisol stimulates glucose production, and the excess glucose is converted into fat and ends up getting stored in the body.

“Eventually, the fat cells become unresponsive to adrenal stimulation to release fat, but through the presence of high cortisol, they’re more responsive to fat storage.” – About Health

Metabolism Is Affected Negatively

When you go on a crash diet, the body is taking all it can from the fat cells and looking for energy elsewhere to help you do the physical and mental daily tasks you have to do. So, it takes it from muscle tissue. When your muscle starts to deteriorate, your metabolic rate also starts to deteriorate. This means that you may have to cut out more calories, which will only result in a slower metabolic rate.

“Extreme calorie-cutting forces your body to burn muscle for fuel instead of fat, and having less muscle mass slows your metabolism.” – Men’s Health

After your diet is over, your slower metabolism will not be as efficient at burning off the calories you put in your body, and you will gain weight much faster than before. You can see how this can turn into a negative cycle of eating less and less in order to maintain or lose weight.

Instead of going on a crash diet, try to focus on increasing your metabolism by going on a workout like Metabolic Aftershock.

Crash Diets Can Cause Eating Problems

To extend the stress even further, there is a good chance that you will gain weight once you stop the crash diet. That will send you into a panic and either put you back on the crash diet or cause you to stress out about the food you are eating, how much you are eating, and what you are eating. In short, instead of just enjoying food, your diet will become a stressful subject to focus on.

Many people end up developing short-term and long-term eating problems thanks to the rapid weight loss and rapid weight gain. Because the crash diet promotes rapid weight loss, it seems like the easiest option to lose weight and is used over and over again. Eventually it can become the only diet that is used to avoid gaining weight – because anything other than the crash diet seems to not work fast enough or promote weight gain.

There Are Health Risks

In the short-term, you can experience nutritional deficiency. It is important to note that a deficiency in one nutrient can lead to a deficiency in another nutrient. Deficiency of any nutrient can cause problems in the body.

In the long-term, you can experience osteoporosis, kidney damage, brain damage, or heart damage. Moreover, cognitive issues can be experienced.