Thousands of men and women follow crash diets every year in the hope that they will lose a significant amount of weight in a very short period of time. Crash diets are popular because they promise more energy, fast weight loss, and sometimes even more toning within days or weeks. Frequently, these diets promise results within five days and maximum results within four weeks, but these days, crash diets are unanimously denounced by experts as inefficient, not to mention dangerous.

A crash diet is one of the most restrictive types of weight loss plans that you can follow. However, they are not only a poor way of losing weight they can also be very dangerous for your body. During strict crash diets, carbohydrate and calorie intake is so low, that your organs cannot get enough energy from these sources. Weight-loss cycles also have a more profound impact on your mind, as the initial losses and inevitable gains make it easy to get demoralised.

Many followers of crash diets even end up putting back on all of the weight they lost, along with additional pounds. This is known as the yo-yo diet effect because of the impact that this type of starvation diet has on your body's metabolism and it is not coincidence that weight loss experts, nutritionists, doctors, and fitness professionals do not recommend crash diets to their clients and patients.

Not only do crash diets cause extreme food cravings, but they can also wreak havoc with your mood. You may find yourself feeling more irritable or depressed than usual and they can also set people up for serious mental health disorders, particularly eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia and are extremely dangerous for your vital organs, including your heart, kidneys, liver, and brain.

Crash diets don't solve the real problem and do not change that lifestyle pattern, which is of the utmost importance for successful prolonged weight loss. Inevitably, when you get off the diet, the weight returns with a vengeance. Simply, crash diets don't work in the end.

Successful dieting means taking a healthful approach to eating that can be sustained and evolved into your lifestyle so that, gradually, a change to a healthier way of eating is the result. For this reason the best diets are based on real foods rather than shakes, bars or special food formulas which you would otherwise not give a second thought to. Diets should not deprive you of food, but allow you to take some time to lose weight so your body gradually get used to it and therefore it will be more difficult to put on weight again.

So in the end crash diets are not only agonizing during, but very disappointing after, as the results don't last. Healthy eating and mild exercise is the right route to dieting and consulting your Doctor, who can put together an eating plan for you which takes into account your metabolism and general health, is highly recommended. Crash diets are unhealthy and are best to avoided at all costs if you are intent on losing some weight.