Things Crash Diet Promoters Won’t Tell You

When people talk about crash diets (especially those who promote or have tried this type of eating plan), you would often hear how effective it is in helping them achieve their ideal body weight. They would attest how easy it was for them to shed off those unwanted pounds and how they feel great about their new look. However, what many people do not know is the other side of story where the dangers of this fad diet is exposed—the part which crash diet promoters would never tell you.

What is a Crash Diet?

A crash diet, also known as fad diet, is a dietary plan designed to help you lose weight quickly and easily. It gives extreme restrictions to the types of food and drinks that you can take in. Some crash diets would only allow you to drink certain type of fruit juice for several days or eat nothing but one type of vegetable and water for weeks.

Dangers of Fad Diet

·    Nutritional deficiencies – One of the most common dangers of crash diet is depletion of vitamins, nutrients, and minerals that are needed for important bodily functions and for the maintenance of a healthy well being. When a crash diet tells you to avoid a certain food group altogether, this would of course result in malnutrition. Hair loss, wrinkled skin, unhealthy nails are some of the first signs of malnutrition due to fad diets.

·    Metabolic difficulties – Crash diets can cause chaos in your metabolism. When you eat too little food, your metabolism slows down. This would make you more prone to weight gain in the future. As a result, many crash dieters end up having a yo-yo pattern of dieting. They gain weight immediately after the diet stops and then they resume on with the diet, which slows down the metabolism even further.

·    Muscle loss – What many people do not know is that crash dieting does not really make you lose fat; it makes you lose muscles because of malnourishment.

·    Use of caffeine and stimulants – Another thing that crash diet promoters like to keep as a secret is the fact that fad diet pills make use of caffeine and other harmful chemicals to suppress appetite and increase heart rate. This is dangerous because most of these pills can contribute to heart ailments and other health problems.

How to Determine a Crash Diet

Crash diets come in different forms and names. If you hear about one that is effective and popular, it does not mean that it is safe and good for you. To determine if a diet plan is a fad or crash diet, know these several things:

1.  Know if the diet makes promises of instant or immediate weight loss. Losing weight the right way takes time so when a diet promoter tells you that you can lose ten or fifteen pounds in a week, it is safe to assume that this is a crash diet that you should stay away from.

2.  A diet that claims to be effective without exercise is a crash diet.

3.  A crash diet would eliminate one of the five food groups. As you know, having a well-balanced diet means having to eat sufficient amount of all of these food groups.

4.  If a diet sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. If there is something fishy about it, then it would be best to stay away from it. Be sure to rely only on a professional nutritionist or dietician for your diet.


The dangers of crash dieting are countless. Now that you know about them, these should be enough to convince you that crash dieting is something that you would be better off never to engage or partake in. A healthy diet plan is of course the better and safer alternative.