Following any fad or extreme diet for anything more than just a few days is simply not good for you as these diest are nutritionally unbalanced and any weightloss you get is almost never sustained. Also called “crash” diets these diets often send dieters into a cycle of quick weight loss followed by a “rebound” weight gain once normal eating resumes. Statistics show that only 5 percent of dieters actually keep weight off in the long run.
Apart from the weight loss aspect, some of these fad diets can significantly increase your risk of developing one of the forms of anemia – or worse. Below are just some examples of diets which would not provide sufficient nutrition to prevent anemia:
- Zen macrobiotic diet, which has ten levels where the “highest” level only allows for the consumption of grains with very few fluids
- The Beverly Hills weight-reduction diet consists only of fruit, which are to be eaten in a particular order. With almost no iron and no animal products you will not be getting any iron or vitamin B12
- Dr Atkin’s diet, very popular after its initial launch, but by now denounced by much of the medical community this diet is very unbalanced and is not recommended for those at risk of developing anemia.
- Raw Food Diet, mainly consist of eating uncooked, unprocessed plant foods, with vegetables and fruits making up 75 percent of the diet. Most followers of this diet are known as raw foodists and raw food vegans, who don’t eat animal products or only eat raw eggs and cheese from raw or unpasteurized milk. The diet will leave you low on vitamin B12 and iron. In addition you are at increased risk of food-borne bacteria.
- Grapefruit Diet, the basic premise is that lunch and dinner must consist of grapefruit, followed by lean meat and vegetables. While a cup of coffee is allowed with each meal, there can be no snacking in between. This diet will leave you short of iron, even though the high consumption of vitamin C might increase your body’s absorption rate. You will also be at risk of a vitamin B12 deficiency.
Lifestyles which increase risk of anemia
Veganism, does not allow for the consumption of any animal products. This means you will only be eating non-heme type of iron which is found in plants and is much less easily absorbed by your body. As a vegan it will be difficult to achieve your recommended dietary intake of iron without using supplements. In addition, you will not get any vitamin B-12 which comes only from animal products and you will be at risk of developing pernicious anemia in particular. If you are vegan or aiming to become one, look carefully how you can ensure a balanced intake of nutrients; most likely you will need to take supplements. Breast-fed babies of vegan mothers are at risk of stunted or distorted development.
The bottom line is: eat a balanced diet. If you want to lose weight then cut on highly processed foods, cut on fat, cut on sugars (do away with all those carbonated drinks), exercise regularly and eat plenty of healthy Iron Rich Foods!
