Give your body what it needs to function to full potential

 

 

A recent survey by an English daily show that among college going girls (18-22 year old) nearly 78% skipped most of their meals compared to 20% who consumed regular meals. It was also reported that nearly 70% of them were substituting milk with other beverages including colas, coffees and teas.

What compels these girls and some boys to self-designed fad or starvation type diets? A trend towards slimness, peer pressure, family, depression, parental control, emotional issues, a need for perfection, are some of the reasons for this growing trend.

Thin is certainly in, slender female models and images flood the mass media. Internalisation or acceptance of these societal standards of thinness may lead to low self-esteem, disturbed body image, leading to adoption of fad diets or starvation type of eating habits.

It is not surprising that people after trying and failing to keep weight off through weight-loss centres, personal trainers, gyms, powders and pills, are trying to re-invent theories and diets to rid themselves of fat. Such is the demand for weight loss products and services that it has become a multi-billion dollar industry. Obviously despite the extent of the problem, we have not been successful in treating it.

Diets and “diet theories” are growing at a mind boggling pace. According to an estimate the number of theories, treatments and diets for weight loss exceed 29,000. But the truth is that fewer than 5% are effective and manage to keep the weight off and 13% are potentially dangerous.

It is common knowledge that obesity, the chief contributor of preventable death globally (WHO), results as a simple imbalance in energy intake and expenditure. When the culprit fats, sugars and carbohydrates are well known, when many have become calorie wise, when foods provide nutrition information, when gyms have mushroomed and number of walkers multiplied, it is indeed surprising that we are not in grip with the situation. Faulty treatment of obesity can lead to serious health problems resulting in chronic disabilities and even death. Most certainly, it takes more than just knowledge and diets to lose weight. The price we pay to drive out those extra pounds may cost us our health. With consumers looking for magic bullets to help them lose weight quickly and effortlessly, can new fad diets promise easy results? The term fad refers to a craze, an idiosyncrasy or an arbitrary liking or disliking. Fad diets advocate, arbitrary exaggerated theories of weight loss and encourage consumers to follow unbalanced diets.

Fad diets are a short term, quick fix approach to weight loss that do not work over a long haul. These diets tend to over promise results and fail to deliver when normal eating patterns are resumed. Food choices are monotonous and calorie intake is drastically restricted leading to wearing off of the motivation to continue with the diet.

Fad diets cannot provide the same balance of nutrients as ordinary healthy food. The success of any fad diet is short lived because water and protein are lost from the body, rather than excess body fat. Slimmers who get into yo-yo dieting have a tendency to put on more weight every time they eat normally. A diet which restricts variety, contradicts the basic principles of healthy eating, can deplete health. Incorporation of behavioral therapy and physical activity in weight loss programmes is essential for long term maintenance. Moreover, individuals suffering from hypertension, diabetes, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, heart failure or any other serious medical condition should be strictly discouraged to follow such regimens as they lead to serious complications including dehydration and renal failure.