Introduction
Fad diets plans promise significant weight loss in a short time following a strict guideline on what to eat. People with weight gain always look for a quick and fast way to lose weight without tiring. Doing exercise and eating healthy food is one of the best health tips to lose weight, but food diets provide an easy out to weight loss without doing much. Weight gain leads to healthy vulnerabilities such as obesity, and since 1980 the number of people suffering from obesity has doubled worldwide ( Hart, 2018, p. 177 ). Kuchkuntla, Limketkai, Nanda, Hurt, and Mundi (2018, p. 310) indicate that approximately 39% of the world population, translating to 2 billion adults, are overweight with 13% (600 million) being obese. Overweight and obese results from excess fat mass in the body, and this is due to excessive calorie intake, sedentary lifestyle, hypothyroidism medical condition, unhealthy eating habits, and Prader-Willi syndrome genetics ( Navaro, Raz, Gabriel, Shriqui, Gonen & Boaz, 2017, p. 703 ). As a consequence, people opt to use fad diets that offer a quick solution to weight loss. However, this paper intends to discuss fad diets to answer the following questions; 1) is fad diet hazardous to people’s health, 2) how do you identify fad diets, and what are the causes, effects, health consequences, and psychological implications of fad diets.
History of Fad Diets
Fad diets history dates back ancient times with Romans and Greeks adopting them for centuries. However, it was used with regards to an active and healthy lifestyle with Victorians adopting fad diets to fancy their lifestyles. Khawandanah and Tewfik (2016, p. 79) indicate that word diet was derived from a Greek word diaita, representing a way of life based on physical and mental health, and later adopted for aesthetic purposes during the 19 th century. In 1820, Lord Byron came up with a popular Vinegar and Water Diet, but a century later, a grapefruit diet that could accompany each meal was suggested due to its low-calorie diet plan. In 1963 and 1970, Jean Nidetch came up with Weight Watchers and Sedative Sleeping Beauty Diet, after suppressing a current famous Cigarette Diet based on appetizing effects of nicotine by the Lucky Strike cigarette company ( Omar et al., 2019, p. 2 ). Since then, different fad diets were established, including The Atkins and Dukan Diet that reflected on high-protein and low-carbohydrate intake, Zone Diet that took into account carbohydrates and fat protein ratio and South Beach Diet reflecting on liquid food ( Chen et al. 2019, p. 811 ).
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Fad Diet Identification
A fad diet usually insists on providing a weight loss plan with a pledge to offer quick weight loss without making much effort. Despite various types of fad diets in place, all have common traits ( Obert, Pearlman, Obert & Chapin, 2017, p. 57 ). First, fad diets pledge for their customers to lose their weight without giving away fatty and doing regular exercise since they are rich in calories food. Second, most fad diets do not reassure a healthy and balanced diet due to limits they have on a range of food types included in the meal plan. They work on hearsay as they promise a miracle as they insist on abnormal quantities intake that would help in burning fat with minimal effort. As per Navaro, Raz, Gabriel, Shriqui, Gonen, and Boaz (2017, p. 709) , some of the fad diets insist on large quantities intake based on a particular food type, with possible results to bloating, nutritional imbalances, intestinal disturbance and bad breath.
The third common characteristic of fad diets is that they are promoted based on previously successful people reviews or testimonies on how they have followed the particular diet or direction of nutritionists. However, all fad diets fail to state associated health consequences in their advertisements for individuals with chronic diseases and in need to adopt and use them. They are vulnerable to severe health impacts, given that most of the fad diets are based on limited or no research.
Reasons for Fad Dieting
Peer pressure influences the adoption of fad diets where people of the same age are influenced by decisions and behaviors their age mate, thus affecting their self-esteem with the uncomfortable current state ( Khawandanah & Tewfik, 2016, p. 80 ). Peer pressure comes from the outside environment, friends, and family. Dieting in teenagers is a result of criticism of weight and diet by peer members where one feels that his or her body image is not ideal and thus leading to inferiority, depression, or self-esteem. Most teenagers develop emotionally guilty of being attractive when they gain weight and thus opt to adopt fad diets to regain their shape and remain likable. For instance, fad diets products are advertised on media platforms that insist on the benefits rather than consequences. Teenagers under peer pressure want to be or look like models they see on television, fashion magazines, or favorite celebrities, who purport to use fad diets to maintain shape and weight. Thus, teenagers are under peer pressure influence and want to be like their role models due to environmental influence. However, the behaviors of adopting fad diets lead to inefficient dieting given that people decide within their peers with an obsession to remain and gain popularity in terms of appearance and weight loss ( Hart, 2018, p. 178 ). Adoption of unhealthy eating and weight control behaviors, such as fasting and skipping meals, increases when one is exposed to information regarding weight-loss and fad diets.
The impact of peer pressure is adverse, given that when attempts to lose weight quickly fail, it can lead to depression. However, reasons as to why fad diets are considered hazardous to people’s health are that the impact of peer pressure to adopt fad dieting may lead to extreme weight loss followed by quick weight gain. The result of weight loss to quick weight gain affects and stress cortisol hormone and thus leading to health risk factors such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, muscle, and energy reduction and increased LDL cholesterol ( Omar et al., 2019, p. 6 ). Peer pressure feelings and continuous dieting also leads to unhealthy incessant eating habits due to fear of gaining weight and thus exposing someone to eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia nervosa. The two mentioned eating disorders distorts individual image with inferiority complex based on the anxiety and shameful feelings about eating ( Navaro, Raz, Gabriel, Shriqui, Gonen & Boaz, 2017, p. 712 ).
Health Consequences of Fad Dieting
Despite some advantages of adopting the use of fad diets to lose weight, there are more consequences than remedies to use this dieting plan. Weight loss happens fast as one loses muscle and water rather than fat tissue. However, rapid weight loss due to fewer calorie intake makes one vulnerable to low nutrients and energy intake, constipation, and tiredness. First, fad diets with low carbohydrates as well as high protein such as The Dukan Diet result in physiological aspects where they limit sugar and the amount of carbohydrate intake as well as promote the consumption of animal protein ( Freedhoff & Hall, 2016, p. 849 ). An increase in the availability of glycogen is exhibited as a result of using fatty acids and Ketones as primary fuel sources rather than glucose. Use of Ketones decreases appetite as it competes with urine for renal tubular excretion and thus causing hyperuricemia.
Second, fad diets with high proteins and fat such as The Atkins Diet expose an individual to a higher risk of heart disease, bad breath, colon cancer, and sleeping orders ( Omar et al., 2019, p. 9 ). Prolonged intake of Atkins Diet exposes an individual to coronary heart and atherosclerosis disease since it increases the levels of cholesterol in the serum. However, constipation is as a result of low carbohydrate that causes low fiber intake. Third, there is a greater production of nitrogen waste product due to high protein diets as pressure on kidneys tend to increase, leading to dehydration state ( Khawandanah & Tewfik, 2016, p. 78 ). A fat diet with protein increases acid load to the kidney, and as a result, calcium balance decreases with maximized stone formation possibility and thus leading to osteoporosis and bone loss. Bone loss predisposes when an individual consumes two or three times more protein than the daily recommended allowance and thus losing calcium through the urinary tract. Additionally, there is a negative influence on insulin resistance and sensitivity as well as an increase in plasma homocysteine when an individual is exposed to long term use of low carbohydrate fad diets. Another consequence of fad dieting is that using diets with high protein increases plasma homocysteine as well as expose cardiovascular to higher risk ( Obert, Pearlman, Obert & Chapin, 2017, p. 60 ).
However, there is low as well as inadequate intake of calcium and zinc minerals when fad diets with low protein and fat are consumed. Low protein and fat intake cause nutritional deficiencies, such as the iron deficit, leading to anemia and growth decrease in adolescents ( Freedhoff & Hall, 2016, p. 851 ). Finally, amenorrhea and menstrual irregularity are the consequence of adopting unbalanced eating habits with physiological implications established from fad diets intake. There are also psychological implications of taking fad diets with low or high protein and fat. Constant fad dieting may lead to distractibility, food obsession, fatigue, constant calorie counting, and increased emotional responsiveness ( Kuchkuntla, Limketkai, Nanda, Hurt & Mundi, 2018, p. 320 ). Low self-esteem, depression, and eating disorders are a result of chronic dieting, and such syndromes affect the social and psychological development of children and teenagers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this paper aimed to discuss the fad diets to answer the following questions; 1) is fad diet hazardous to people’s health, 2) how to identify fad diets and what are the causes, effects, health consequences, and psychological implications of fad diets. Fad diets are popular across the world due to peer and societal pressure of having particular body shape and size. The exercise involves limiting a range of food intake by adopting a specific meal plan that fails to reassure a healthy and balanced diet. Fad diets promise fast weight loss without considering associated health risks and low sustainability. A fad diet usually insists on providing a weight loss plan with a pledge to offer quick weight loss without doing much effort . They work on hearsay as they promise a miracle as they insist on abnormal quantities intake that would help in burning fat with minimal effort.
Despite the availability of various fad diets, their safety raises more questions than answers with hazardous effects. Peer pressure influences the adoption of fad diets, where people of the same age are influenced by decisions and behaviors of their age mate . Most teenagers develop emotionally guilty of being attractive when they gain weight and thus opt to adopt fad diets to regain their shape and remain likable. The impact of peer pressure is adverse, given that when attempts to lose weight quickly fail, it can lead to depression. The consequences of fad diets surpass their advantages. Renal dysfunction, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis are physiological conditions associated with fad diets due to high protein and fat intake. However, depression, as well as eating disorders, is psychological implications resulting from fad diets with low protein and fat intake. Despite fad diets helping individuals to lose weight fast, it has more implications and consequences to people’s health.
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