Why diets are bad for you

Diets offer a temporary fix

Any fad diet or ‘eating plan’ that is a temporary departure from what’s accepted as a healthy, balanced diet – especially those that cut out entire food groups – is by its very nature unsustainable.

Yes, you’ll see the benefit while you’re on the diet, but as soon as it’s over, the weight is likely to return.

See also: Top 30 spring foods for weight loss

You can end up gaining more than you’ve lost

For several reasons, once a diet is finished, you can end up gaining more weight than you lost in the first place. This is partly because you can become complacent about your weight loss, thinking that now those extra kilos are gone, they’re gone for good: wrong.

Unless you keep to the stringent and usually unhealthy regime, they’ll come back and then some! An understandable response to being permitted previously forbidden foods is to over-indulge in them, possibly eating more than you did before the diet.

If you increased your exercise when you were dieting, you may feel there’s no longer any need now you’re at your desired weight, and this coupled with going back to old eating habits will inevitably lead to weight gain.

See also: Top 30 spring foods for weight loss

Dieting encourages food obsession

Being told you cannot have certain foods only makes you want them more. Remember when you were a kid and your mum restricted you to one or two biscuits at a sitting? Did that make you want to eat the whole pack?

For some of us the psychology of dieting makes us focus on food more than we otherwise would do, and this is likely to result in secret binges.

See also: Top 30 spring foods for weight loss

Diets can lower your self-esteem

Because faddy, quick-fix diets usually end in failure and, inevitably, weight being regain – often more than was lost – dieters frequently feel like failures. In fact, it’s the diets that are failing them, and not the other way around.

It’s impossible to stick to a very-low-calorie diet (VLCD) long term – and it would be threatening to your overall health if you were to do so. Failure leads in turn to yo-yo dieting, where weight is repeatedly lost and regained, and each cycle lowers self-esteem still further.

See also: Top 30 spring foods for weight loss

Crash diets slow your metabolism

When you severely restrict your calorie intake with a very-low-calorie diet (VLCD) – such as those based on meal replacement shakes and cereal bars – you lose not only fluid, but muscle.

Muscle burns more calories than fat, even when you’re not exercising, so losing muscle means your metabolism can slow down. This means your body’s overall ability to burn off calories is also slowed.

See also: Top 30 spring foods for weight loss

Side effects often lead to failure

People who have tried fad diets – especially those that cut out whole food groups - have reported side effects including bloating and wind, constipation, bad breath, weakness, light-headedness and boredom from eating the same staple food.

No wonder so many people decide the side effects just aren’t worth it and give up!

See also: Top 30 spring foods for weight loss

Unbalanced diets are unhealthy

We all need to eat from the main food groups regularly, having a good balance of fruit and veg, carbohydrates, protein, dairy and good fats, and limiting sugary and processed foods.

The various nutrients are needed for skin repair, organ health, bone strength, muscle tone, a healthy nervous system and overall fitness and energy levels. If you’re unclear what makes a healthy diet, check out the NHS eatwell plate.

See also: Top 30 spring foods for weight loss

Some diets are bogus

There are some fad diets that have gained in popularity because of their apparent endorsement by official health bodies, but there are bogus diets out there, lots of them online.

Always check any newly popular diet out with your GP or the cited health bodies before trying them. They include the so-called ‘British Heart Foundation Diet’, which is nothing to do with the British Heart Foundation (BHF). The BHF has its own safe weight-loss advice.   

See also: Top 30 spring foods for weight loss

Healthy eating and exercise are key

The science behind weight loss is perfectly straightforward: in order to lose weight, we must burn more calories by exercising and generally moving around more or, if we are largely sedentary or unable to exercise as much as we could, we need to eat less accordingly.

A woman typically needs around 2,000 calories per day and a man typically needs around 2,500. This is based on being normally active and should be adjusted either up or down depending on how physically active you are.

Talk to your GP if you are planning to lose weight. They will advise you of the best route for you.

See also: Top 30 spring foods for weight loss