Dieting is often seen as a positive and healthy way to lose weight, but in reality, it can be incredibly harmful to your body. The reason you see terms like “health at every size” and ‘anti-diet’ is because of the long-term damage dieting can do to your health.
When you diet, you are restricting yourself from eating certain foods or groups of foods. This can lead to nutrient deficiencies in your body, as well as an unhealthy fixation on food. Dieting can also lead to disordered eating patterns, such as binge eating or yo-yo dieting.
If you’re considering going on a diet, it’s important to be aware of the potential risks. Here are some of the ways dieting can harm your body:
It Can Cause Nutrient Deficiencies
When you restrict yourself from eating certain foods or groups of foods, you may not be getting all the nutrients your body needs. This can lead to nutrient deficiencies, such as iron deficiency anemia or vitamin D deficiency.
People who are on diets will often have nutritional deficiencies, even though they feel like their meals are balanced. The less you eat, the fewer nutrients you are consuming, thus causing deficiencies.
If you are in a severe caloric deficit or eating as few carbs as possible, you are probably missing out on vitamins and minerals from meat and fish, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, dairy, and so many more different types of foods.
It Can Lead to Disordered Eating Patterns
Dieting can lead to disordered eating patterns, such as binge eating or yo-yo dieting. Binge eating is when you eat large amounts of food in a short period of time, often in secret and feeling out of control (think: binge-watching an entire Netflix season of a show in one day). Yo-yo dieting is when you lose and gain weight in a cycle (think: going on a diet, then falling off the wagon and gaining all the weight back).
Both of these disordered eating patterns can be extremely harmful to your body. Binge eating can lead to weight gain, while yo-yo dieting can lead to weight fluctuations, which can be dangerous for your health.
You Might End Up Gaining More Weight
As aforementioned, dieting can lead to disordered eating patterns, such as binge eating or yo-yo dieting. However, even if you don’t develop an eating disorder, you might still end up gaining more weight in the long term.
One study followed participants for two years and found that those who dieted were more likely to gain weight than those who didn’t diet. The study found that dieting actually increases your risk of gaining weight, even if you don’t binge eat or yo-yo diet. A lot of those people gain even more weight than when they started, due to the refeeding period after restricting. Your body is going to hold on to all that food in fear of another famine period, and this can lead to many issues with overeating and not understanding when your body is full.
Macro and Calorie Counting Lead to Unhealthy Choices
Think about a time when you were dieting, whether you were counting macros or trying to stay in a caloric deficit. Did you always choose the healthiest, most nutritious foods possible?
Or, did you find yourself choosing foods that were low in calories or macros, even if they weren’t necessarily healthy?
If you have ever found yourself making unhealthy choices in the name of trying to lose weight, you’re not alone. When you focus on counting macros or calories, it can lead to unhealthy food choices.
For example, you might choose low-calorie processed food over nutritious whole food because it fits into your diet better. Or, you might choose a food that is high in protein but low in nutrients because it helps you reach your macro goals.
Both of these choices are unhealthy and can lead to weight gain, not weight loss.
The Stress is Damaging to Your Body and Mental Health
You are putting your body and brain through a lot of undue stress when you go on a diet. When you stress your body out, it releases the hormone cortisol. Cortisol is a stress hormone that can lead to weight gain, among other things.
In addition to the physical damage that dieting can do to your body, it can also lead to mental health issues. Dieting can cause anxiety and depression, as well as body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), which is when you obsess over your perceived flaws.
There are so many different emotions you go through on this rollercoaster of restricting your food, having guilt or shame over indulging in something that was off limits, and over-exercising to burn as many calories as possible.
If you find that every time you start a diet, you end up feeling stressed, anxious, or depressed, it might be time to consider giving up dieting for good.
Unhealthy Habits Replace Healthy Food
You might notice that when you are on a diet, you start engaging in unhealthy habits not related to food. For example, you might start skipping meals, obsessively working out, or taking diet pills.
These unhealthy habits can be just as harmful to your body as the food you are (or aren’t) eating. Skipping meals can lead to weight gain, while over-exercising can lead to injuries. Diet pills can also be harmful, as they often contain stimulants that can cause side effects like anxiety, insomnia, and heart palpitations.
It’s Not a Sustainable Way of Life
Last but not least, dieting is not a sustainable way of life. You can’t diet forever, and eventually, you will have to go back to eating “normal” foods.
When you do start eating again, you might find that you gain all the weight back (and then some). This is because your body is used to being in a state of starvation, and when you start eating again, it holds on to as much food as possible in case of another famine.
Dieting is not a sustainable way of life, and it’s not a healthy way to live. If you want to be healthy, you need to find a way to eat that doesn’t involve restrictive dieting.
Conclusion
If you’re considering going on a diet, be aware of the potential risks. Dieting can cause nutrient deficiencies, lead to disordered eating patterns, and even make you gain weight. It can also damage your mental health and replace healthy habits with unhealthy ones. If you’re not careful, dieting can do more harm than good.
So, the point here is to watch out for fad diets and be mindful of your relationship with food. If you’re not happy with your weight, talk to a doctor or nutritionist to come up with a healthy plan to reach your goals. And always remember, dieting is not the only way to be healthy. There are many other factors that contribute to good health, such as exercise, sleep, and stress management. So don’t put all your eggs in one basket, and remember that health is more than a number on the scale.
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