International Journal of Surgery Open 60 (2023) 100703

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International Journal of Surgery Open

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Unintended consequences of dieting: How restrictive eating habits can harm your health

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords The text explores the negative aspects of dieting. Dieting has been more common in recent years as more people
Dieting strive to adhere to strict food plans in an effort to achieve their desired body weight and form. Unfortunately, this
Health issues strategy may have unforeseen repercussions that could have a negative impact on one’s health. Insufficient
Desired body weight
calorie intake, for instance, might deprive the body of vital nutrients, resulting in malnutrition and a weakened
Weight-loss
immune system. Similar to too-restricted diets, irregular periods and even infertility can result from a disruption
Eating disorders
in the hormonal balance. Furthermore, dieting can lead to psychological distress, which in turn promotes
disordered eating behaviors such as binge eating, purging, and other eating disorders. These disorders have the
potential to have a long-term negative impact on physical and mental health, and in some situations, they may
even be fatal. It’s important to exercise caution and knowledge when it comes to various diet regimens that are
advertised on social media and online.

1. Introduction food intake might cause uncontrollable hunger, mood fluctuations, and
a higher chance of overeating. Moreover, dieting-related persistent
“Dieting,” a term commonly heard by almost everyone, refers to the hunger can make unhealthy habits like drinking alcohol or smoking
controlled and regulated intake of food in order to decrease or maintain cigarettes worse [2]. Chronic dieters frequently describe feelings of guilt
one’s body weight or to cut down excess body fat. By changing your and self-blame, irritation, anxiety, and sadness, as well as fatigue and
pattern of food consumption to a healthier one or limiting the intake of attention problems [2]. They constantly feel like failures for “messing up
those specific macromolecules (carbs, fats, and proteins) that constitute my diet again,” which lowers their self-esteem and makes them feel like
the major part of your diet, one can achieve the main target around they have no control over their eating habits or life in general [2].
which the concept of dieting revolves, i.e., low-calorie intake, which Moderate dieters are five times more likely to develop an eating disorder
ultimately leads to weight loss. The Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet, than people who never diet, making dieting particularly troublesome in
the vegetarian diet, the flexitarian diet, and many other diet plans help teens and a significant prelude to disordered eating [2]. Diets suggest
people achieve their desired goals concerning the health status of their limitations. Dieting is a risky behavior that can have detrimental re­
body and their weight. According to a study published by the Centres for percussions on one’s health, including an increased risk of heart disease,
Disease Control and Prevention in November 2020, the most followed lingering unfavorable effects on metabolism, and diminished mental
diet plans by people appear to be a low-calorie diet, followed by a dia­ capacity. Although much research and medical experts remark that
betes management diet. Then an integral position is held by the low-carb people with eating disorders were dieting at the time their eating
diet and the low-cholesterol diet [1]. A person can go on a diet for problems developed, this can also result in an eating disorder. Dieting
several reasons, including weight management among people carrying can result in depressive thoughts, low self-esteem, and increased stress,
unhealthy weight and the risk of progression to serious comorbidities which can create a vicious cycle of preoccupation and body dissatis­
like hypertension, diabetes mellitus type 2, coronary heart disease, faction. Dietary constraints can psychologically result in increased
obesity, dyslipidemia, etc. Dieting can prevent the occurrence of all of responsiveness to food signals, heightened desires, and disinhibition, as
these risk factors. Another reason that has become more of a trend well as overeating and binge eating [2]. Quick weight reduction diets
among the youth is the maintenance of a perfect and healthy figure to can also be harmful to your health and unsafe. Gallstone formation risk
enhance the beauty of their physical appearance. Dieting can happen to may increase with rapid weight loss [3]. There is a higher chance of
offer a more active lifestyle with an enhanced focus on improved and constipation, exhaustion and energy loss, hair loss, loss of bone strength
healthy habits. While providing these curative and advantageous ben­ and density, and low immunity to illness when calories are cut back
efits, dieting can also have certain troublesome and inadmissible out­ when full food groups, such as dairy or carbs, are excluded.
comes in the form of serious ailments and undesirable effects on your
body and mind. 3. Effectiveness and health impacts of different diet plans
promoted through social media and online platforms
2. How might dieting lead to serious health issues?
For optimal nutrition and health, a healthy diet is essential;
Many major issues might arise as a result of dieting. Limiting your substituting healthy foods for unhealthy ones will aid in weight loss. It

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Received 22 October 2023; Accepted 23 October 2023
Available online 28 October 2023
2405-8572/© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Surgical Associates Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
([Link]
A. Habib et al. International Journal of Surgery Open 60 (2023) 100703

shields us from numerous chronic noncommunicable diseases, including Author contribution

cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. A healthy diet requires eating a
variety of foods and avoiding saturated and industrially produced trans All authors meet the inclusion criteria, and all authors read and
fats, sugar, salt, and trans fats. People in low-to middle-income countries approved the final version of the manuscript.
who are overweight or obese are more likely to have diabetes and other
cardiovascular diseases. Weight loss is now a multibillion-dollar busi­ Consent
ness. It’s hard to go a day without reading or hearing about “weight-
loss” plans or courses. Fad diets and magical weight-loss pills endorsed N/A.
by celebrities and supported by personal success stories abound in
popular media. Many of these diets can help a person lose weight while Registration of research studies
they are on them, but once they return to their normal routine, the
weight starts to come back on [4]. The keto diet plan has been famous 1. Name of the registry: N/A.
for a couple of years and is a viral craze that has been promoted via 2. Unique Identifying number or registration ID: N/A.
online entertainment and TV slots. The keto diet is a high-fat, low-­ 3. Hyperlink to your specific registration (must be publicly accessible
carbohydrate diet that puts the body into a metabolic state known as and will be checked): N/A.
ketosis due to the drastic reduction in carbohydrates [5]. Because people
want quick results, new diet plans easily attract them. They don’t take Guarantor
into account long-term health issues, so these celebrity-endorsed diet
plans cause more harm than good. Some well-known diets, such as the Ashna Habib.
Paleo diet, the Mediterranean diet, the Carnivore Diet, and intermittent
fasting, may help some people lose weight, but they may also cause Declaration of competing interest
serious health problems like constipation, dehydration, poor sleep
quality, and an increased risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes [6]. N/A.
Dieting is becoming more and more popular, but it’s important to
remember that a diet that works for one person may not work for Acknowledgments
everyone. and diets must be planned for each individual by certified
dietitians based on their medical diagnosis. None.

4. Conclusion References

It’s important to approach various diet regimens pushed on social [1] MS, RDN AG, RDN KK. Best and worst diet plans for weight loss, heart health, and
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[2] jennpierson. Dangers of dieting: why dieting can Be harmful - Lindner center of
fits-all method of dieting, despite some people’s claims that there is a HOPE. Lindner center of HOPE. Published February 8, [Link]
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they might not be long-term maintainable or healthy. For instance, [4] Is diet or exercise more important for your health? Is diet or exercise more important
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levels and an increased risk of heart disease. Before starting any new diet good. The News Minute. Published September 24, [Link]
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vider. They may evaluate your particular dietary requirements and offer [6] How do diet plans affect your health and weight loss? Open Access Government
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No patients were included.
Ashna Habib, Tooba Ali, Zainab Nazir, Arisha mahfooz
Permission to reproduce material from other sources Dow University of Health Sciences, Mission Road, Karachi, Pakistan
E-mail addresses: ashnahabib937@[Link] (A. Habib),
All articles are cited and references are given. This study has not toobaali455@[Link] (T. Ali), zainabnazir42@[Link] (Z. Nazir),
taken any material that needs permission. arishamahfooz862@[Link] (A. mahfooz).
Qurat-ul-Ain Inayat
Clinical trial registration Mohammad Ali Jinnah University, Karachi, Pakistan
E-mail address: [Link]@[Link].
This is not a clinical trial.
Md Ariful Haque*
Ethical approval Department of Public Health, Atish Dipankar University of Science and
Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh
N/A. Voice of Doctors Research School, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Yan’an Hospital Affiliated to Kunming
Source of Funding Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan, China

*
N/A. Corresponding author. Department of Public Health, Atish Dipankar
University of Science and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
E-mail address: arifulhaque58@[Link] (M.A. Haque).