Everyone wants ‘Fast Weight Loss’, regardless of how long it took them to gain weight. Due to this high demand, there are many short terms fixes using extreme & often unhealthy methods for ‘fast weight loss’ that do not give you actual fat loss, only water loss. So, once you return to your normal lives, the weight gain comes back with a vengeance. One of these is commonly known as Mono-Diets or mono food diet plan.

Mono Food Diet Plan means that you will only eat one kind of food each meal. That means one kind of food only every meal for you to maximize the nutrients that you can get.Mono diets revolve around Food Groups. Here is the list: 

Mono Diet Food List

  • high protein group (meats and fish)
  • high vitamin group (vegetables and fruits)
  • high fat group, and high starch group (cereals or starches-bread and pasta).

For example you will be advised to

  • Eat fruits exclusively on the first day.Read more to know Is fruits fattening?
  • Only vegetables on the second day, meat on the third day and
  • Cereals or starch sources on the fourth day, and so on.

Note: This is only an example. Please do not follow this diet plan

The healthy rate of weight loss is recommended to be 2 kg per month. Losing more weight puts an extra strain on your body, and requires drastic measures, that can have possibly unhealthy consequences. At 2 kg per month of healthy weight loss from a proper weight loss plan, most or all of the weight loss will come from fat loss. 

Why not Mono Diet Plan?

With these kinds of diets, they claim to help you lose 5-8 kg a month. But those significant weight loss results, are due to rapidly depleted muscle and liver glycogen stores that facilitate water loss. With 75% of your body composed of water, its easy to lose weight this way. But once you stop this diet and return to a normal diet, your weight will bounce back. Besides this, with reduced hydration levels and muscle in your body, your metabolic rate reduces, thus reducing the calories burned by your body.That’s why it's important to follow a proper balanced weight loss plan that includes both diet and exercise. So, it can help you target fat loss. Further, if you follow mono diets for a long period of time, it can affect your health negatively:

Health in danger zone

  • According to Journal of American College of Nutrition, high animal protein intakes leads to higher risks for heart disorders, cancer also higher risks for osteoporosis (bone weakening) and renal disease.

  • Overall decrease in energy levels as these diets alters usual patterns of eating.

  • A reported side effect of these diets is that it is supposed to give a headache.

  • The diets are not balanced so leads to nutrient deficiencies like vitamins (A, D and B complex) and minerals ( calcium and iron)

  • Depression and fatigue is common as these diets are not based on healthy eating habits accompanied by regular exercise.

So, don’t torture yourself with unhealthy diets. Get some exercise, eat balanced and lose weight the healthy way.