We all know that obesity is unhealthy and if we are overweight, then we should lose the excess fat to be healthier. Most of us also understand that losing weight healthily is a gradual process.
The problem is that most people don't have the patience to do it gradually and so some people take extreme measures to become slimmer too quickly. That can prove to be not only unhealthy, but even dangerous.
With the influences of fashion cover magazines of pencil thin catwalk models, the desire and pressure to lose weight quickly is so great that many people are willing to compromise their health in the process. Here are some dangerous methods of losing weight.
a)Starvation Diet - The concept is to consume as little calories as possible. So people resort to skipping meals or go on extreme calorie deficit diets. Yes, these diets may result in weight loss, but the weight loss also comes with loss of muscle tissues which slows down your metabolism.
In extreme cases, the dieters may develop potentially fatal eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.
b) Diuretic Pills - Diuretics are drugs that make you urinate more often to reduce water retention in the body. These pills don't make you lose body fat, but water instead. Your body respond to this is to protect itself by retaining more water. This response triggers a cycle of diuretic usage since the dieter consumes even more diuretic pills to get rid of the new water weight.
The danger of using diuretic pills is dehydration. Serious dehydration can turn into a life threatening situations because the dieter is losing vital fluids, electrolytes, minerals such as zinc which are critical for proper heart, kidney, liver and other bodily function.
c) Laxatives - Similar to diuretics, laxatives do not induce fat loss, but empties your bowels so that you become lighter. Just like diuretics, you will also lose a lot of water and your body responds by retaining even more water. Thus the cycle of taking more laxatives to get rid of the water retention begins.
People relying on laxatives will find that after awhile they begin to develop constipation when not using laxatives. Their bowels may become permanently damaged and the condition may be potentially fatal.
Furthermore, abusing laxatives may result in electrolyte imbalance, dehydration, bloody diarrhea, severe abdominal cramps and nausea.
d) Ipecac Syrup - The Ipecac syrup is used to induce vomiting for people affected by poisonings. Those with Bulimic eating disorders often use it induce vomiting with many of them dying from the abuse of this medicine.
This syrup causes systemic toxicity when its active ingredient, emetine builds up in the cellular tissues and weakens the heart, resulting in irregular heart beats, chest pains, breathing problems, heart attacks, shock and even death.
e) Prescription diet pills - Prescription diet pills are often prescribed by medical practitioners to obese patients because they are effective in stimulating weight loss. Therefore their ingredients are stronger than over the counter weight loss supplements. These pills usually come in the forms of appetite suppressants and they stimulate the nervous system, producing amphetamine-like reactions.
Some dangerous side effects of prescription diet pills include hypertension, insomnia, nervousness, heart palpitation, hyperactivity, fatigue, dizziness, heart arrhythmias, headaches, vomiting, heart attack, stroke and blurred vision.
So if you want to lose weight, then do it healthily with good eating habits and a regular exercise program. There is no reason for you to put your life at risk with unhealthy weight loss methods.
Author Resource:-
Chris Chew is a sought after fitness consultant. If you want to lose weight healthily, then read How to lose weight and Lose weight diet
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