A crash diet is a diet for losing weight by limiting calories in a very short period of time. We all are inclined towards faster result and crash diet is an example of it. It helps in quick weight reduction but is bad for health in a long run. It is generally used for short term diet. There are some popular crash diets like- The cabbage soup diet, the protein diet, three-day diet, Grapefruit diet, Detox diet, Chicken soup diet, Water fast diet and Fresh juice crash diet. There are many advantages and disadvantages of the crash diet.

Pros of Crash Diet:

  • Helps in weight reduction in a very short period. It gives an amazing result to sheds pounds of weight in a week.
  • Crash diets are generally affordable as it needs very little food.
  • These diets instantly reduce calorie consumption and help the body to burn its own fat for calories instead of depending on outside food source. So it provides better shape to obese or overweight easily.
  • These diets are meant for a short period of time i.e. for one or two weeks. So there is no need to follow for a prolonged period of time like other modified diets.
  • It is good for some medical complications which need calorie restricted diets.

Cons of Crash Diet:

  • A crash diet is a diet with very limited food and with few calories which may arise to starvation or hungry feeling.
  • Crash diet though not provides sufficient energy with a feeling of weakness, tiredness and sleepiness are always there.
  • Crash diet may lead to anorexia, malnutrition and metabolic disorders.
  • It is very difficult to adapt and follow as many lovable and pleasant foods are omitted from the diet and it is very difficult to maintain its accuracy.
  • After following a crash diet there is an increased tendency of weight gain as it causes starvation which forces you to take junk foods that ultimately leads to weight gain instead of weight loss.
  • Crash diets are deprived of all sufficient nutrients i.e. it is not a balanced diet and results in malnutrition or deficiency of nutrients into the body.
  • Some health complications like ketosis, serum uric acid and gallstone may occur and there is a direct relation to the size of gallstones to the amount and duration of weight loss.
  • It is a short term effective solution of weight loss but losing weight by following crash diet regains weight within few years and even more weight than the previous weight.
  • Crash diet losses lean body mass instead of fat from the body.

Finally, we can say that crash diet results in socialization problem as it is difficult to follow strict crash diets when in groups. It is also sometimes problematic to stick with this difficult diet as it develops monotonous feeling. It is not a good choice to lose weight in a healthy manner as totally restricting diet creates the deficiency of certain nutrients instead of restrictive crash diets, limiting quantities of food is a healthy choice of weight reduction because there is a less scope of nutrient deficiency.

The crash diet is only good for immediate weight loss plan or for morbidly obese persons but are not recommended for prolonged period of time and also not for everyone. Losing weight by practising balanced healthy diet without going for extreme crash diet is advisable for all.