Beware of Fad Diet Plans - Get Realistic

What is fad diet?

The phrase fad diet, was originally used to refer any eating plans that promote short term weight loss. Food fad or fad diet is a term of popular media, not science. These diet plans claim to be scientific but do not follow the scientific method in establishing their validity. Some of them were downright telling you to starve yourself.

No matter how good it sounds, a diet plan that consists solely of bananas, is not feasible.

The fact is, no one (even the models who are used to advertise these diet plans) is able to stay on these deprivation diet for long periods of time. Even if you did lose some weight, you won't stay that way once you get back to your regular eating pattern. Fad diet plans typically don't result in long-term weight loss and they are usually not very healthy. In fact, some of them might actually be dangerous to your health.

How to identify fad diet plans?

Fad diet usually focuses on a single dietary element such as cabbage or grapefruit. In 1974, the term was defined as three categories of food fads.

• A particular food or food group is exaggerated and proclaimed to cure specific diseases.
• Certain type of foods or food element (fat, carbohydrate, or protein) are eliminated from because they are viewed as harmful.
• An emphasis is placed on eating certain foods to express a particular lifestyle.

Examples of these fad diets are the cabbage soup diet, fruitarianism, the grapefruit diet, fat free diet, and many others.

Why shouldn't you follow these diet plans?

A balanced diet is important, unless you have a medical condition like liver or kidney disease that demands protein restriction. You can't just simply eliminate one of the major elements from your diet and expect there won't be any consequence. For example, if you eliminate fat from your diet and replace it with protein, you'll risk getting a condition called ketoacidosis which can lead to loss of consciousness.

Some fad diet plans claim that you can lose weight without having to exercise. This is a very misleading notion because without studies have shown that people who exercise regularly are more likely to lose and keep weight off. Any diet plan that tells you that you can lose weight without exercise is only telling you what you want to hear, but not the truth. There's no easy way to get your way around and skip exercise.

"Fad diet plans don't result in long-term weight loss and they are usually not very healthy."

Even though the principle of weight loss is to cut down calories, the quality of the food you eat do matter. If you only stick to one type of food for long periods of time, you'll lose other important nutrients like vitamins and minerals even if you actually get enough calories to fulfill your daily need.

The worst thing about fad diets is the emotional consequences they have on those who fail when trying to follow them. Those who start the diet expect that they are going to lose weight quickly and be able to stick with it. Someone who has tried several different diets without success feels like a failure. Unfortunately dieters tend to blame themselves for the failure, rather than recognizing that the diets they were attempting were unrealistic and impossible to stick with in the long term. Before starting a diet, be sure to assess what you expect and whether that is a realistic expectation.

Obesity Overview

Obesity is diagnosed when your body mass index (BMI) is 30 or higher. In people of Asian descent, you may be diagnosed with obesity when your BMI is 27.5 or higher. To calculate your BMI, divide your weight (in kilograms) by your height (in meters) squared. Or if that's too complicated for you, use an online BMI calculator found here: http://nhlbisupport.com/bmi/

"Obesity is more than just a cosmetic problem."

A BMI of more than 40 means you are morbidly obese. Morbid obesity carries a very high risk for cardiovascular diseases and severely interferes with a person's normal functioning and quality of life. It is more than just a cosmetic problem.


People who are obese have an excessive amount of body fat. Because muscle weighs more than fat, sometime using only BMI to diagnose obesity can be inaccurate, especially in muscular people like athletes. Therefore, waist circumference is also used to determine the amount of abdominal fat. People who carry too much fat around the middle (central obesity), are more likely to have health problems. Waist measurement greater than 40 inches (101 cm) in men and greater than 35 inches (88 cm) in women are considered to carry increased risk for diseases. In people of Asian descent, greater than 36 inches (90 cm) in men and greater than 32 inches (80cm) in women.

What causes obesity?

A lot of people thinks that obesity is caused simply because one eats too much calories and lacks physical activity. However, there are other factors that also play a role in obesity which include:

• Genetic factor. Obesity tends to run in family. If one's biological mother is heavy as an adult, there is more than 50% chance her offspring will grow to be heavy. This doesn't mean that your genes failed you and convict you to a lifetime of obesity, though. Many people who are genetically predisposed to obesity do not become obese or are able to lose weight and keep it off.
• Age. As your body ages, your metabolism rate slows down and you do not require as many calories to maintain your weight.
• Gender. Women have slower resting metabolism rate than men and thus more prone to obesity. 
• Environmental factors, including lifestyle behaviors, what a person eats, and his or her activity.
• Psychological factors. Many people eat in response to emotions such as boredom, sadness, or anger.
• Medical conditions. There are some illnesses that can cause obesity, such as hypothyroidism, Cushing's disease, and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Arthritis may also cause obesity by restricting physical activity.
• Drugs. Certain drugs such as steroids and antidepressants may cause excessive weight gain.
• Lack of sleep. Getting less than seven hours of sleep at night causes hormonal changes that may increase your appetite.

Obesity affects one's quality of life.

What are the physical and psychological effects of obesity?

Some of the potentially serious health problems you may develop from obesity include: metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer (especially colon and breast cancer), sleep apnea, liver and gallbladder diseases, infertility, and osteoarthritis. Obesity is also associated with low quality of life because of self esteem issues and discrimination that leads to social isolation and depression.

When to seek help?

Contact your doctor or health care provider if you think you may be obese to evaluate your health risks and discuss weight-loss options. You should also seek help if you are having emotional or psychological issues related to obesity.

What are the management options?

Weight loss is usually possible through dietary changes, increased physical activity and behavior changes. In some cases, prescription medications or weight loss surgery may be used under physician's recommendation. Support groups are available to provide help with the psychological aspects of obesity. Stress management and healthy coping strategies are beneficial to increase quality of life.

Metabolic Syndrome and Related Conditions

What is metabolic syndrome?

Metabolic syndrome (also known as metabolic syndrome X, syndrome X, cardiometabolic syndrome, and insulin resistance syndrome) is a combination of risk factors that raises the risk for cardiovascular disease and other health disorders like stroke and diabetes. Studies indicated that almost as high as 25% of the United States people suffers from metabolic syndrome and this number increases to around 35% as the population ages.

The term 'metabolic' is used to describe alterations in the normal biochemical processes in the body that occurs with these multiple condition. Metabolic syndrome occurs when a person has three or more of the following: 

• 

  abdominal obesity or apple shaped belly

  Abdominal obesity
• Triglyceride level ≥150 mg/dL
• HDL cholesterol <40 mg/dL in men or <50 mg/dL in women
• Systolic blood pressure ≥130 mm Hg
• Diastolic blood pressure ≥85 mm H
• Fasting glucose ≥100 mg/dL
• Insulin resistance or glucose intolerance

Having only one of these conditions doesn't mean you have metabolic syndrome, but having one increases your odds for getting another one.

"Standalone, each one of the conditions that made up metabolic syndrome is already a serious health problem. Combined, the risk of contracting a serious disease increases even more."

Although metabolic syndrome is a serious condition, with aggressive lifestyle changes, you can delay or even prevent the development of serious health problems. Weight reduction, physical activity, healthy diet, and regular monitoring of blood glucose, blood cholesterol, and blood pressure are beneficial to people with metabolic syndrome.
 
Risk factors of getting metabolic syndrome are increasing age, racial background (Hispanics and Asian are at a greater risk), obesity, family history of diabetes and other diseases like hypertension or polycystic ovary syndrome in women.

Physical Inactivity Is A Serious Health Problem

How serious of a health problem is physical inactivity?

In the year 2008 physical inactivity, or lack of exercise, was responsible for the deaths of 5.3 million, almost ten percent of the total annual death from all around the world. As if that wasn't scary enough, today lack of physical activity kills as many people as smoking. And that's saying something. 

The death caused by physical inactivity could be avoided if only people would take a total of 150 minutes or more of moderate exercise weekly, which calculates down to approximately 25-30 minutes a day. If you lead an active daily life, you may even don't have to exclusively spare some time to work out. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator in your office, for example. Read all about it in my previous entry how exercise can be made easy and enjoyable.

climbing stairs

What diseases can be prevented with regular physical exercise?

The four major disease that are related to physical inactivity are coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, bowel cancer and breast cancer. Around 6% of coronary heart disease cases are associated with physical inactivity. The number varies from 3.2% in southeast Asia to 7.8% in the eastern Mediterranean. Around 7% of type 2 diabetes cases (ranging from 3.9% to 9.6%), around 10% of breast cancer cases (5.6%-14.1%) and (5.7%-13.8%) colon cancer cases are linked to lack of exercise.

if you ever need a push to get out of bed...

"Physical inactivity affects both your physical and mental health." 

Not only that physical inactivity detrimental to your physical health, it also have a negative impact on your mental health. Researcher suggests that people who are physically inactive are twice more likely to suffer from depression. It also suggests that there is a connection between physical activity and the incidence of Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia. People who were physically active have 30-40% lower risk of developing dementia as they get older compared to people who were inactive. This effect was seen in both women and men despite of their education and socioeconomic status.

So if you ever find yourself in need of a push to get you up in the morning and do some exercise, remember that physical inactivity is a serious health problem and you could actually die or contract dementia from it.

---

Other articles in exercise:

• A lot of seniors feel discouraged to do physical exercises because concerns about injury or falls. Sometimes a health condition such as heart disease and osteoarthritis can also prevent them from staying active. Read more about exercise for older adults and the elderly
• Even though they may not look like much of a calorie burner, these activities are just as effective as the more complicated exercises. Read more about this small list of easy exercises
• Obesity increases the risk for cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and interferes with a person's normal functioning and quality of life. Read more about obesity overview