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Diets can be effective initially and we may see results in the short term. In terms of long-term benefits and sustainability, they are not always the best option, as we will go on to explore.

When we diet, we consume fewer calories and trick our body into thinking that it is starving. This in turn causes our body to become better at storing fat.

The reason behind this is that our body thinks fat will be needed in the future to use for energy as less calories are being consumed. It therefore slows down metabolism (the chemical process whereby substances, including fat, are broken down to produce energy).

This can then have a knock on affect if you then give up your diet. This may be due to frustration at not seeing results or weight loss. Your metabolism will now be a lot less efficient than previously and even though you may not be eating as much as before, you will find yourself gaining weight faster.

Another point worth noting is that although you lose both fat and muscle in equal amounts during weight loss, you will find that when the weight is regained, it will be mostly fat.

For these reasons, most dieters who lose weight will end up putting back on part, if not all of the weight they have lost.

We can therefore see why crash and fad diets will not work. It is definitely not advisable if you want to maintain a healthy lifestyle long term.

Many ‘gimmicky’ diets will promise a lot but you will ultimately be recommended things that can be unrealistic and may be detrimental to your health.

Fad diets can have you convinced in a very extreme way. They may have you believing certain foods are not to be touched at all. Possibly convincing you to eliminate certain food group’s altogether (foods that are an essential part of a balanced diet).

This is particularly noticeable in the diets that eliminate carbohydrates (we will talk about these in the next article in this series)