If Thanksgiving and Christmas were the season for grazing, then the New Year has to be the ‘season of dieting’. You literally can’t turn on the TV without watching an advertisement for the latest get-thin-quick scheme. The current state of the economy doesn’t seem to have hurt the local gyms and diet centers as people flock in, filled with good intentions and New Year’s resolutions, to finally shed those few extra pounds once and for all.
Yours truly is included in this category. I make a New Year’s resolution every year. This year, I have vowed (once again) to lose those extra pounds (again) and this time to keep it off (for good) and to never wear those “fat” jeans again! (That’s a good thing to promise because they are getting holes in them!) I’ve probably lost 500 pounds in my life. The trouble is that it’s been the same 30 pounds over and over and over again. This time I made it 6 years before crashing and falling off the food wagon.
So, here I am AGAIN –- 6 years later –- facing the diet dilemma once AGAIN. I find myself wondering what the underlying cost has been to my health. Does this type of constant dieting, sporting a weight that bounces back and forth on the scale like a volleyball, have any long term side effects that I’m not aware of?
The truth is that crash dieting and yo-yo dieting are not good for you and certainly not good for your heart health. Most of us have been on a crash diet at one point in our lives. Our best friend’s wedding sneaks up on us and we just want to lose 5-10 pounds before the wedding. Or (and I like this one), you’re headed to your twentieth high school reunion and want to wear that cheerleader outfit again. Like soooo NOT happening! The problem is that even though we know these events are coming up, we wait until the last minute to try to lose those extra pounds. The result is that we go on a “crash” or starvation type diet -– you know what I’m talking about –- a “quick-fix” diet. These types of diets may simply limit calories or some may use diet pills or diuretics to enhance weight loss. The result is that those pesky pounds peel off –- for now –- and creep right back on as soon as you’re done with the diet. In fact, not only do they creep back on, they bring friends (more pounds) that come to live on your tummy and thighs as well. The result? Another diet followed by loss and gain –- followed by another diet, and so on. You get the picture. We’ve all been there and even though we hate to admit it, probably have the pictures and have the t-shirt to prove it.
All of this up and down with your weight due to constant dieting plays real havoc on your metabolism. Talk about confused! Your body doesn’t know whether to starve or feed itself. Should it use calories or hoard them? What’s a carbohydrate to do? What your body does is turn your metabolism inside out. Your metabolism slows down so that it burns fewer calories to perform even routine tasks. This means that you can gain weight even when you eat fewer calories than normal. And guess what ladies? This metabolism slow down can go on for YEARS!
So, what does all this up-and-down do to your health and your heart in particular? Plenty! This type of dieting is just plain B-A-D (and I mean BAD) for you. Crash dieting often causes mental health problems such as mood swings, depression or just general overall irritability. In some cases, it may lead to more serious eating disorders (anorexia or bulimia). Crash dieting also totally toasts your nutritional levels and you may find yourself at serious risk for developing other conditions such as iron deficiency anemia, vitamin B12 deficiency, potassium and sodium deficiency as well as brittle bones due to calcium loss. While this may not sound too serious on the surface, nutritional deficiencies, particularly sodium and potassium, can have extremely serious consequences to your heart health. Potassium and sodium are necessary to both your nerve and muscle function and are essential in ensuring that your HEART beats properly. Believe it or not, sodium and potassium nutritional deficiencies may lead to a heart attack!
As if this weren’t enough, because most crash dieting limits carbohydrates and calories, your body doesn’t have enough “fuel” for energy. When your body is hungry, it’s going to eat. If it doesn’t find the carbohydrates and calories that it needs to make energy, then your body will cannibalize itself rather than starve. You heard me right. Your body will start eating your muscle tissue if the carbohydrates and calories are not around at meal time. Can you imagine the kind of damage that is inflicted when your body decides that your kidney or liver is the main course for dinner? How about your brain? Your heart? This cannibalization can cause permanent damage to these vital organs and eventually lead to organ failure, stroke or HEART attack.
The real kick in the pants on all this is that the damage seems to accumulate and get more severe as we get older. The University of Michigan Health System conducted one study that found the risk of heart disease is increased for women who have been on a crash diet or engaged in yo-yo dieting at least five times in their lifetime. The news gets worse. The risk is even greater beginning with menopause. Although the verdict is not yet carved in stone, the researchers believe that gain-lose cycle of yo-yo dieting damages the endothelial cells which line blood vessel walls. If the damage is too severe, the ability of the blood to flow properly is inhibited leaving you woman susceptible to heart attack or stroke.
What’s the bottom line? When it comes to your weight and heart health, you need to maintain a healthy weight, healthy BMI and healthy waist-hip ratio. You need to find a healthy plan and commit to it and then make whatever permanent lifestyle changes are needed in order to maintain that weight. Above all –- avoid the crash diets and yo-yo dieting. (I am pointing fingers at myself and preaching to the choir on this!) It won’t do any good to be thin if you’re dead. And yes ladies, we can eat ourselves to death!
Until next time, here’s wishing you a healthy heart.
Sources:
Crash and Burn: Yo-Yo and Crash Dieting, http://www.epigee.org/fitness/crash_diets.html
Yo-Yo Dieting Tugs on Your Heart’s Strings, 06 Feb 2003, ScoutNews, LLC, Life Clinic Personal Health Management, 2003, http://www.lifeclinic.com/fullpage.aspx?prid=511643&type=1
Study links yo-yo dieting to poor post-menopause heart health, Science Blog, 03 Feb 2003,
http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/study_links_yo-yo_dieting_to_poor_post-menopause_heart_health