Weight gain is often the consequence of an unhealthy lifestyle. It may have resulted due to your overeating, excessive alcohol consumption, little to no physical activity, lack of sleep and more. But can you cheat yourself to a perfect body by eating a very low calorie diet? Not for a long-term. It can promise a rapid weight loss but extreme starvation diets like the 500-calorie diet will only make your body react negatively and not respond positively.
You may lose weight at the beginning, but your metabolism slows down to adapt to the insufficiency, so this kind of weight loss alternative will either have you eat way too little for your body’s needs and be hungry and tired all the time, or eat till you’ve met your body’s needs and gain the weight back and probably even more.
What Is A 500-Calorie Diet (Very Low Calorie Diet)
A 500-calorie diet or sometimes known as VLCDs (or Very-Low-Calorie-Diets) restricts your calorie intake radically and in fact, to a short fraction of what your exact calorific requirement is on a daily basis. Obesity can no doubt be dangerous and since calorie control is one valuable aspect of weight loss, this diet can hand over to you the most significant results in terms of losing weight rapidly. However, following it for a lengthy period will not be a good option.
The Dangers
- Possible side effects of very-low-calorie diets include nausea, fatigue, diarrhea, intolerance to cold, menstrual irregularities and hair loss. If the meal-replacement products used in very-low-calorie diets do not contain sufficient amounts of dietary fiber, these diets can make constipation more likely. Rapid weight loss can also cause gallstones in people who are susceptible to them.
- More serious potential consequences include heart arrhythmia, stroke and brain hemorrhage. Pregnant women who follow these diets are more likely to have children with birth defects. If you consume too much liquid and not enough protein, you could also develop hyponatremia, or low blood sodium, which can cause dizziness, fatigue, confusion, coma and death. These diets can also cause nutrient deficiencies if not carefully planned.
- Very-low-calorie diets can lead to fast weight loss, with obese patients losing approximately 3 to 5 pounds per week. However, a significant amount of early weight loss is water weight, and later weight loss includes approximately 30 percent muscle loss or more. Since many people have difficulty maintaining this weight loss, they often end up with higher percentages of body fat and less muscle after regaining lost weight. This sets them up for more weight gain and more health problems.
If there is any glaring benefit that this diet offers, it is rapid weight loss. But no sane medical professional will tell you that a 500-calorie diet is safe. Diets that are “extreme” calorie restricted or those below the 1400 calories a day needs to be medically supervised. Before you embark on this type of diet, seek help from a medical weight loss to help you establish a plan that is healthy and will provide you with the right weight loss program to meet your goals.
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