It would be really nice if that’s how weight loss really worked but it doesn’t. First of all, cutting back on calories too much can actually be quite dangerous and unhealthy. One of the reasons being that you may be depriving your body of the essential nutrients that it needs to function properly which can lead to chronic deficiencies and the problems associated with them.

Other problems that can occur are imbalances in the minerals that control the balance of certain fluids in the body which allow muscles and nerves to function properly. Also, osteoporosis is another danger, especially for women. Dairy products such as milk, cheese and eggs are usually cut out of low calorie diets which can lead to a severe calcium deficiency leading to bone mass loss.

What also happens is that if you cut back on too many calories for a few days, your metabolism will slow down significantly which means your body will start to adjust itself so that it can operate with less calories. You will end up burning much less calories during the day and it makes weight loss even harder.

Not only will your metabolism slow down, but you will have less energy, feel tired and depressed and your body will also start to break down muscle and bone tissues to feed itself rather than burning up it’s fat supplies because muscle tissue burns calories, so the less muscle you have the less calories you need. Your body does not know that you only want to lose weight, it thinks that there is a food shortage or famine and it will do everything it can to make sure you survive as long as possible.

When you start to eat normally again, your body will be burning calories at a slower rate than it did before you started the diet because you have less muscle mass and your body will still not be sure how long abundant food will be available for.

The failure rate of these type of diets are extremely high, as much as 95% as stated by some researchers. Calorie reduced diets also create what is known as the “Yo-Yo” dieting effect.

To compensate for the lack of food during the diet when you do start eating normally again, your appetite increases causing you to eat more food than usual which will eventually cause you to put back all of the weight you lost while dieting. Many people also experience an actual increase in weight several months after dieting because of this Yo-Yo effect.

Well…no, that’s not right. Eating fewer than 1000 calories a day can, at best be a short-lived attempt at dieting, at worst it could be a recipe for long term health problems.

Your body is not designed to function well on a very low calorie diet. In fact, it goes into starvation or famine mode and tries to preserve essential functions at the expense of the less essential ones.

To avoid the dangers of a very low calorie diet, it is best to follow such a diet under medical supervision.

Metabolism and Low Calorie Diets

In recent years, researchers have reported that very low calorie diets can promote body chemistry and metabolism changes that lead to improved health and longer life. The findings of their study supported the theory that eating less prolongs life in laboratory mice and rats and could possibly do the same for people by slowing the aging process and preventing:

Heart Disease Cancer Diabetes

However, due to the expense of such an expansive study, no proof exists that calorie restriction really works in people. In fact, the body is designed to burn calories for fuel and severely restricting calories prevents our bodies from burning body fat efficiently. As a result, weight loss slows down because your body is designed to survive. The dangers of a very low calorie diet are that your body goes into starvation mode. Instead of burning the stores of body fat, it works to protect them and instead uses lean muscle for energy. Loss of muscle equals a lower ability to burn calories and a lower metabolic rate. The end result is that your body needs less calories to function and in the long run you don’t lose weight. In fact, many people gain weight and wonder why because they are eating less!

Metabolic Rate

How does metabolism work? Our metabolic rate is the rate at which our bodies burn calories. Everyone is different because the more muscle you have the higher your metabolic rate will be. So, building muscle helps burn calories, while less muscle brings about a lower metabolic rate. This is why young people burn calories faster than older people. The dangers of a very low calorie diet drawing energy by using lean muscle for energy is like a catch 22. When you eat too few calories, you burn fewer calories, lose muscle and require even less as your body thinks it is surviving starvation and our metabolic rate falls.

Dangers of a Very Low Calorie Diet

Many diets limit calories, but diets that limit calorie intake to as little as 500 to 800

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First, why are only 500 calories allowed for consumption? That can’t be enough for a person to live on, can it?

When this limited diet is instituted, food alone will not be the only energy source. It must also come from somewhere else. That somewhere else lies within the reason for taking on a diet in the first place: body fat. This fat has essentially collected from the excessive consumption of food over time. It is retained in the body as an energy source for potential bouts of starvation.

HCG diets tap those pockets of body fat and use them as a delayed food source. Together, limited dietary intake and accumulated fat serve as a sufficient energy source. As we have all learned, if a person lets this fat remain over any amount of time, they become prone to a plethora of medical conditions.

Second, is the use of HCG injections necessary to make this diet effective?

The HCG hormone is indeed necessary for the diet to work. Traditionally, needles have been an integral part of this diet method as they are the vessel in which to administer the hormone accurately. Currently, many dieters use HCG needles. When used correctly, they are extremely effective and are so small they cause just a little pinch feeling upon insertion.

For those weary of needles however, a new form of HCG is available which consists of oral homeopathic drops that are administered under the tongue. They have been proven just as effective as injections, so these are also an option.

Third, shouldn’t exercise be a more critical component of any diet?

With some weight loss programs, a ton of exercise is integral to its effectiveness. With HCG diets, some activity is allowed but excessive activity should be avoided. This is because the burning of more calories than what is made available may result in feeling exhausted or weak. The HCG hormone does most of the weight loss work when used in a diet, not exercise.

As questions arise with any diet, they do with HCG diet programs. Over time, these questions have been answered by a large group of practiced dieters. The information from their experience is extremely valuable for people researching dieting methods.