Fasting Your Way to Health Loss
With summer fast approaching and the beaches beckoning, there is a mad scramble for diets which help us lose weight fast, with people searching for fast diet to reach their ideal body weight. These so-called fast diet consist of losing weight at the fastest possible time. There are several shakes, food bars, and other diet supplements being marketed today which claim to achieve weight loss in as little as 5 days. Aside from questions on their effectiveness is the more important question of, are these diets safe?
One such fast diet is called the liquid fast diet. As can be derived from the name, this diet consists of liquids only. Although not as stringent as a water-only diet, the liquid fast diet is touted to have health benefits because it cleanses the body and gives our digestive system a much needed rest. When the digestive system is not working, the energy it saves can be diverted to healing the body. The immune system, which attacks the bacteria and toxins we ingest with food, can then be freed up to fight diseases affecting other parts of our body. Furthermore, the immune system gets a boost from the vitamins and minerals contained in the fruit juices which make up the liquid fast diet.
Other people resort to fasting to lose weight. Although not the most practical and safest way to diet, some people claim that fasting helps our bodies rid themselves of toxins. There are different regimens of fasting for weight loss. Some people, as mentioned above, limit intake to water and juices. Some restrict food intake on specified dates. Still others drastically reduce calorie intake but do not eliminate food altogether. Although weight loss is achieved, there is no guarantee that dieters can keep them off. And the claim that fasting cleanses the body has not been substantiated.
Other fast diet plans being hyped is the 3-day fruit diet plan which promises losing up to 10 lbs in three days. This fad diet has been around since the mid 1980s. It offers a very strict diet which must be adhered to precisely for 3 days, followed by 4 to 5 days of unrestricted diet. The dieter has the option to resume the diet for another 3 days indefinitely. The reason for the 4-5 day interval of normal eating is for the body not to revert to its fat-storing mode. No exercise has been prescribed with this diet. This diet is claimed to lower cholesterol levels and boost energy, aside from its weight loss benefits. These benefits are believed to arise from a unique metabolic reaction which the diet induced. However, these claims have not been substantiated.
The fast food diet plan provides dieters with food options from the offerings of all major fast food restaurants. This plan is simple. It consists of choosing from a food and beverage combination (totaling 1,500 calories daily) and walking a mile a day.
Whether any of these fad diets actually work is a matter of opinion. But fast diet remains to be popular, especially among those who want to see results fast.