Why drastic weight loss is dangerous?

The word “weight loss”, similar to “fat burning” and many other similar terms, implying a decrease in body weight (usually due to the fat component), is usually associated with something useful, healthy, correct and necessary for everyone.

And although the views of the public have changed a little now, giving rise to such movements as “body positive”, which often encourages overweight people, most people on our planet still tend to see a lot of negativity in being overweight. The reason for this is the state of health, which directly correlates with the presence of obesity in a person and affects not only the quality of his life, but also its duration. Therefore, when we talk about weight loss in overweight people, we are certainly talking about the positive aspects that weight loss can provide.

But does it happen when weight loss is not a reason to rejoice, but a dangerous symptom? When does a significantly dropped figure on the scales become a reason to be on your guard and check your health? Of course yes, answers Pavel Baranov — specialist in the field of nutrition, endocrinology and psychology. Let’s find out reasons of danger because of weight loss.

Reasons why drastic weight loss is dangerous:

If you want to become slimmer — do not rush things. Sometimes quickly lost kilograms come back even faster and in double the volume. We tell why science and doctors oppose express weight loss

Even the most gentle diet can have undesirable consequences. And yet, many, wanting to see changes as soon as possible, are ready to go for the most severe restrictions on food. After all, when only a few weeks are left before an important event, the most important thing is the result. Even if the chosen diet is contrary to common sense. According to nutritionists, a safe rate for weight loss is up to 1 kg per week. If you lose more, serious complications can arise. We list the reasons that make such experiments hazardous to health.

• 1. Decreased immunity

Diets that are highly calorie deficient and exclude essential nutrients from the diet increase our susceptibility to infectious disease. Including coronavirus, nutritionists warn . With this diet, the amount of vitamins and minerals entering the body sharply decreases. This not only weakens the immune system, but also reduces life expectancy, found researchers from Stanford. When a person begins to follow a strict diet, his body is exposed to severe stress. As a result, the concentration of cortisol in the blood rises, a hormone that suppresses the natural inflammatory responses to viruses and bacteria. According to experts from the University of Pennsylvania, another unpleasant consequence stress — increased cravings for sugary and high-calorie foods.

• 2. Failure of the reproductive system

Fans of express diets are faced with malfunctios in the reproductive system. Especially if you combine dietary restrictions with grueling workouts. In women, menstrual irregularities can be caused by a deficiency of essential fatty acids omega-3 or vitamin D — these substances are responsible for the production of female sex hormones. But to get carried away with fiber during diets, on the contrary, is not worth it. American scientists have proven that excess dietary fiber lowers estrogen levels, which regulates the menstrual cycle. If you lean on fiber, the risk of amenorrhea (absence of menstruation) increases tenfold. At the same time, the dietary fiber contained in vegetables and fruits has the greatest influence on the work of the reproductive system. Another factor that can disrupt your menstrual cycle is high levels of the aforementioned cortisol.

• 3. Mood swings

Sudden weight loss can severely damage the nervous system. Any extreme diet leads to nutritional deficiencies and imbalances in certain hormones: serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, cortisol, and leptin. Because of this, a losing weight person has frequent mood swings, he becomes nervous and irritable. And the endocrine changes that accompany dramatic weight loss cause depression and anxiety. This conclusion was made by researchers at Harvard Medical School. According to them, estrogen and oxytocin help manage stress. Conversely, low levels of these hormones increase anxiety and cause disturbing thoughts. In addition, due to a lack of calories during express diets, the body begins to save resources: we become less active and concentrate worse.

• 4. Loose skin and wrinkles

Many fast diets provide weight loss by removing fluid from the body. Potential consequences include headaches, increased fatigue, dehydration, and nerve cell death. In addition, due to a lack of water, swelling appears, tissues lose their elasticity, the skin becomes dry, nails — brittle, hair — dull and weak. In addition, the weight that was lost due to the loss of water usually returns quickly. If a person sheds several tens of kilograms in a short time, his skin does not have time to respond to changes and sags, and wrinkles become more pronounced.

Another component of beauty and health is fat. At the same time, most extreme diets involve a sharp decrease in their consumption or complete exclusion from the diet.

• 5. Decreased muscle tone

One of the unpleasant results of a calorie deficit is a slowdown in metabolic processes, including fat burning. Thus, the body seeks to conserve every incoming calorie and compensate for energy costs. As a result, not only the “plateau effect” occurs (when the weight freezes at one point), but the synthesis of new muscle fibers also slows down. In addition, a sharp reduction in incoming calories forces the body to seek alternative sources of energy. Muscles become one of these. They “burn” much more actively than adipose tissue. The fact is that during stressful diets, survival becomes the main task of the body, and muscles for it are extra ballast that consumes too many calories. Therefore, he “eats” the muscles and triggers lipogenesis — the process of building fat reserves for a rainy day.

• 6. Accumulation of fat

The body will continue to increase the amount of adipose tissue — reserve energy reserves, even after returning to the usual diet. That is why, after grueling diets, it can be so difficult to maintain the results: the weight almost always returns to its original value or becomes even more. The stress hormone cortisol also contributes to the formation of adipose tissue. It has been proven by scientists from Stanford University. An experiment conducted by a group of biologists led by Mary Teruel showed that mammals with elevated cortisol levels had twice the weight gain compared to controls. Teruel says this happened not only due to the synthesis of new fat cells, but also due to the growth of existing ones. In addition, with express diets, the production of hormones that regulate appetite is disrupted.

• 7. Gallstones

Lack of adequate nutrition can cause various disturbances in the work of the gastrointestinal tract — bloating, constipation, slowing down of digestion, gastritis, ulcers. The consequences can be even direr if the low-calorie diet is accompanied by the intake of laxatives, fat burners, or special stimulants that suppress hunger. Most of these drugs deplete the body’s resources and negatively affect the central nervous system. In addition, rapid weight loss increases the likelihood of developing gallstones. During fat burning, the liver secretes cholesterol into bile. If its concentration becomes too high, bile crystallizes and turns into stones. Such risks are subject to all dieters who lose more than 1.5 kg per week.

Drastic weight loss factors:

There are many direct and indirect factors that can lead to rapid weight loss. They are divided into two main categories: natural and pathological.

Natural Causes of Rapid Weight Loss:

• Poor nutrition or its complete absence — the body stops receiving a sufficient amount of nutrients, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, macro and microelements to maintain a certain weight;
• An increase in physical activity on the body as a result of changes in lifestyle: a change in work with an increase in physical labor, playing sports, having a child, etc.;
• Systematic stressful situations: frequent conflicts at work, scandals in the family, between friends, relatives, loss of loved ones, falling into a difficult financial situation, road accidents;
• Age-related hormonal changes, the end of pregnancy and other natural physiological factors.

Pathological causes of rapid weight loss:

• Systemic depressive conditions, accompanied by suicidal thoughts, drowsiness and loss of appetite;
• A wide range of viral infections, including a protracted acute respiratory viral infection that affects the upper respiratory tract and reduces appetite;
• Cancer problems — rapid weight loss is one of the key symptoms of malignant cancer;
• Gastroenteritis, which reduces the efficiency of absorption of nutrients into the body, which leads to dehydration and rapid weight loss;
• Drug and alcohol addiction, a number of mental disorders, tooth loss;
• The presence of parasitological diseases (worms).

Possible cause of severe weight loss (explained)

• Malnutrition

According to modern research, more than 50% of the world’s population is undernourished. This means that such people are not getting the nutrients they need in the right amount. The reasons are different, from economic to geographical. If malnutrition continues long enough, it can have a significant impact on a person’s health, including severe weight loss. Of course, the best way to prevent this is to eat a balanced diet with enough protein, fat and carbohydrates. Unfortunately, such food is not available to everyone. And many of those who still have access to it simply do not care what and when they eat.

• Loss of muscle mass

Loss of muscle mass begins at about 40 years of age and progresses much faster after 75. Preventing the development of such a condition will be both the consumption of a sufficient amount of calories (including maintaining the protein norm of 0.7 g / kg and above), and maintaining physical activity in any age. Western countries are often a positive example of this, because it is not so difficult to meet men and women who are well over 70 going in for sports there.

• Hyperthyroidism

Unexplained weight loss can be a sign that a person has a thyroid disorder called hyperthyroidism or thyrotoxicosis, which causes the thyroid gland to overproduce hormones. Sometimes a person may not be aware of the presence of such a disease and not take any of the measures necessary to prevent its development. Weight loss will typically be one of a combination of symptoms, including a rapid heart rate, heat intolerance, hair loss, and insomnia. If a person suspects such a violation, he should undergo a diagnosis of the state of the thyroid gland from an endocrinologist.

• Peptic ulcer

Unexplained weight loss can sometimes be one sign of an ulcer.

Stomach ulcers are local mucosal defects that develop on the inside of the stomach as well as in the upper part of the small intestine.

Since the main symptom of peptic ulcers is abdominal pain, they often cause a decrease in appetite. Lifestyle modification combined with prescribed treatment is the best way to get rid of this problem. It is necessary to contact a gastroenterologist in such a situation.

• Cancer

Severe weight loss can be one of the symptoms of cancer. There are several types of cancer, such as leukemia, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, breast and colon cancer, which often lead to significant weight loss.

Some cancers increase resting metabolism, which means the body burns more calories, while others can produce inflammation-provoking proteins that can lead to weight loss. Treatments such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy often cause decreased appetite and can lead to side effects, including nausea, vomiting, and mouth ulcers, that prevent you from eating. All of this also affects weight loss.

• Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is usually associated with obesity, but weight loss can also be an unexpected symptom of this condition. When the body does not use insulin properly, the transport of glucose for further conversion into energy can also be disrupted. The internal system can begin to use fat and muscle to function, which ultimately leads to a decrease in total body weight. Here it will be important to consult an endocrinologist and a nutritionist as early as possible, because the development of type 2 diabetes is much easier to prevent than to deal with its consequences. Type 1 diabetes, in turn, is an autoimmune disease with which a person is forced to live their whole life.

• Parasites

Tapeworms, roundworms, hookworms — thousands of people pick up these and other parasites every year, either from their pets or due to lack of hygiene when eating and drinking. Parasites absorb nutrients in the body and multiply, filling more and more space in our body and devouring more and more of its resources. This can lead to decreased appetite and weight loss, and the person may not even be aware of anything. It can take weeks and months, and sometimes years, for parasites to manifest themselves, and this is the importance of timely diagnosis. A number of analyzes and tests can help cope with this problem.

• Depression

This mental disorder can manifest itself in a variety of ways, including weight loss. A person in a depressed state often becomes so immersed in his problems and disconnects from the outside world that, in principle, he practically ceases to eat. Although there is no single cause of depression, many cases can be effectively treated with psycho- and drug therapy. As a rule, a multidisciplinary approach in the form of consultations with a psychologist / psychotherapist and a psychiatrist gives positive results.

• HIV and AIDS

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, also known as AIDS, is a chronic, potentially life-threatening illness caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). HIV can either make it difficult for the body to absorb nutrients or put a person into a state of depression, which can lead to malnutrition and decreased appetite.

HIV / AIDS can also increase the risk of developing infections that cause weight loss, either because of decreased appetite or when eating becomes painful.

Scientists warn: active use of gadgets can cause overeating.

The experiment proved that the habit of not letting go of the phone is harmful to health and shape.

• Alcoholism

Alcohol intoxication affects people in different ways, someone starts to eat more and more, and someone, on the contrary, loses their appetite. But this is the case if we are talking about healthy people. Alcoholism, on the other hand, can lead to the fact that a person will lose a significant amount of weight due to a false sense of satiety, which he will constantly feel due to alcohol abuse. In addition, alcoholism can lead to peptic ulcer disease, which also causes weight loss. People with this disease are also often malnourished, because they often prefer alcohol to a balanced dinner. Of course, as in other cases, it is necessary to get rid of this problem with the help of a team of professionals who are able to bring you “by the hand” to the result.

In addition to everything that we have analyzed, there are also many other problems and pathologies that can manifest themselves in the form of a person losing a certain percentage of body weight. Chronic heart failure, celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, dementia, Crohn’s disease, Addison’s disease, Sjogren’s disease, achalasia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, etc. — all these pathologies, among other symptoms, can manifest themselves in the form of weight loss.

This once again reminds of the importance of timely diagnosis, the need for anxious attitude to one’s own health, and also that any acquired disease is much easier and more correct to prevent than to treat when it becomes severe. Feel free to share any of your thoughts to the comment section.