First, these diets are successful for a short period of time, but all diets are initially successful. Singer and actress, Beyonce Knowles, had a rapid 20 pound weight-loss that she attributed to her use of the lemonade diet. She subsisted, for a period of ten days, on a concoction of lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and maple syrup. And, the ill-advised diet was successful; she lost 20 pounds. However, although the lemonade diet yielded dramatic results, it was (and still is) a nutritional nightmare.
Lemonade Diet
Healthcare professionals have since evaluated and condemned the lemonade diet; nonetheless the diet was successful for a period of time. All diets that drastically reduce your calorie intake will result in an initial weight-loss, but eventually you will return to your original weight; indeed you will probably exceed your original weight - but why?
In his book, Maximum Muscle Minimum Fat, Ori Hofmekler explains that “starvation diets with severe calorie restrictions” will lead to a reduction in metabolism and “rebound” weight gain (pp.107, 119). To clarify, the body uses calories to fuel the body’s metabolic processes; these processes are constant, and you will always burn a certain minimum amount of calories per day because metabolic processes are continuous in the living body.
Basal Metabolic Rate
These processes include activities such as maintaining a constant heartbeat, breathing, secretion of fluids, regulation of hormones etc. These processes are constant, and even if you lay in bed all day and slept you would burn a certain minimum amount of calories (basal metabolic rate); thus, you have an absolute caloric requirement that you must meet in order to remain alive. If you don’t consume enough calories to meet this demand, the body looks to another source of calories – your body (specifically your bodyfat); otherwise, you will die.
The body in starvation mode will begin breaking down bodyfat and using the fat by-products as an energy source to maintain vital life processes; however, to sustain life while in starvation mode, the body also makes another adjustment to your physiological processes.
Burning Fewer Calories
To compensate for a severe restriction of calories, the body uses fewer calories. When you resume regular eating patterns, you will regain the weight, and because your body is using fewer calories you gain additional pounds i.e. your eating habits are the same, but your metabolism is not the same. Eating the same amounts of food that you ate before the weight-loss will cause significant weight gain. Hofmelker refers to a ketogenic diet that severely restricts carbohydrates and explains that (like all starvation diets) the diet "if done chronically, may lead to a total metabolic decline, causing dieters to gain back all the weight they initially lost…” (p. 120). This cycle of metabolic decline and subsequent weight gain applies to almost every drastic diet that severely restricts calories.
Rapid Weight-loss Consequences
What are the dangers of these rapid weight-loss diets? Because the body is depleted of so many nutrients (that in many diets are not supplemented), the body struggles to function. Dehydration, malnutrition, electrolyte imbalances (which jeopardize function of the heart), and gallstones are just some of the threats to health posed by rapid weight-loss. Is the weight loss sustainable? - No.
As many researchers in weight-loss have indicated, the loss of weight is temporary. As soon as one resumes a normal diet, he or she will regain the weight (plus several pounds more). The phenomenon is popularly referred to as "yo-yo dieting).
Permanent Change
To have a successful and permanent weight-loss the dieter must commit to a permanent change in eating habits, not a one-week crash diet that can only be sustained for the one week.
Hofmekler, O. (2008). Maximum Muscle Minimum Fat. North Atlantic Books. Berkley, CA.
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