Go easy on that fasting diet

Despite the seemingly positive results in such a short time, the diet has some hidden dangers, especially to those who try it without proper guidance from a nutritionist. NET PHOTO

Intermittent fasting is all the rage now — it involves the dieter going without food for long periods with the aim of losing unwanted weight fast.

A number of dieters, especially women, swear by the diet, and have flaunted their eye-popping results on social media after just a few weeks of starting the diet. So popular is the regimen that several Facebook groups dedicated to it have been created, attracting thousands of followers.

Dramatic change
Carolyne Muturi, who first tried the diet last year, says that she saw a dramatic change in her weight after just a few weeks. She was so pleased, she even documented her journey on her Facebook page, showing her before and after photos. She would also post photos of her meals and give blow by blow accounts of all the things she had eaten and drank.
In less than two months, Ms Muturi, who had been 99kg, had lost 17kg.
She also incorporated a ketogenic diet, which involves one eating a high fat, moderate protein and low carbohydrate diet. To lose the weight, Ms Muturi would avoid meals for 23 hours, surviving on water and herbal teas before her next meal. When she would break her fast, she would eat high fat and protein meals with some vegetables. Her typical meals featured meats, eggs, salads made from raw vegetables, avocado and cucumber.

Despite the seemingly positive results in such a short time, the diet has some hidden dangers, especially to those who try it without proper guidance from a nutritionist.

Detriments
Henry Ng’ethe, a nutritionist says one may not get all the nutrients they need due to intake of limited meals. This kind of dieting, he said, may affect fertility, making conception harder in future.
“Our bodies convert fats and proteins from the food we eat into hormones. You might want to conceive in the future and you find that there are some challenges, because the micronutrients needed for the process are not available,” he says.
Women who go on the fasting diet while breastfeeding also undermine their children’s health.

“There are vitamins that you must take into your body every day, and if they are not provided, it might result in a certain deficiency,” Ng’ethe warns.
He admits that some studies have shown that fasting helps in some cases: it speeds up generation of new cells and metabolism.
“It’s good because we need to boost our immune system, but we need to know at what point we need to fast,” he says.

“If fasting has to be done, it has to be under the guidance of a nutritionist. That way, even if someone is taking only one or two meals a day, we can ensure that the daily dietary allowance is met. If you are able to meet that daily, it is okay,” he said.
This article was first published in Daily Nation.