Desperate times call for desperate measures and that is probably what transpires through the minds of the millions who seek to lose weight with a low calorie diet plan. I use the expression ‘desperate’ because this diet plan involves deceiving your body and consuming lesser calories than what is needed to maintain your normal body weight.
Men and women are created differently and what works for men does not work for women and vice versa. The minimum calorie requirement to maintain normal body weight is 1800 calories for men, while women can do with just 1200 calories per day.
Whenever the term low calorie diet plan is used with respect to women, it always denotes that the total calories provided by such diet plans will be lesser than 1200 calories per day.
Types of Low Calorie Diets
There could be a variety of low calorie diet plans depending upon the food composition that makes up the plan or the total amount of calories such a diet provides. It is crucial to understand that when your diet plan is formulated in such a way so as to provide you lesser than 1000 calories (for women) or lesser than 1500 calories for men, then it is no longer just a low calorie diet.
Such diets are classified as VLCD or very low calorie diets, which are not at all recommended and place your health and general well-being at high risk.
Some of the popular VLCD diets are the 1000 calorie diet, 800 calorie diet and the most extreme 500 calorie diet.
In reality such VLCDs are just starving your body and forcing it into short term weight loss by withholding calories in the diet.
Is It Okay to Consume a Low Calorie Diet?
Well, the question can be answered better if you describe your goal clearly. If you are looking to lose weight quickly and have just a few pounds to knockoff, then a low calorie diet plan should help you out. Such kinds of diets are recommended when you are suffering from diabetes and are obese as well.
Research studies have confirmed that a low calorie diet could in fact help in losing body weight but you also could lose some aspects of your good health if you are not careful. Some of the unwanted effects on your body could be depression, high stress levels, insulin resistance and of course cardiovascular disorders.
But as with any other rapid weight loss measure, these effects on health may not be seen in everyone who uses a low calorie diet and the intensity could also vary from person to person. Moreover, it depends upon how long you intend to follow a low calorie diet and also on the concurrent health disorders that you may be suffering from while being on a low calorie diet plan.
Who Should Avoid Using Such Diets?
Well, if you ask my opinion it is always better to follow a healthy diet pattern and an active exercise routine to lose weight rather than starve your body or follow an extreme calorie-restricted diet. There are certain folks who may be better off if they avoid such calorie restricted diets.
If you are suffering from thyroid disorders, you must avoid losing weight with the help of such diets as they can worsen your thyroid dysfunction and consequently bring about an increase in body weight due to the profoundly important role of the thyroid gland in maintaining normal body weight.
Another health disorder that calls for avoiding such diets that limit consumption of calories is hypercortisolaemia. High cortisol levels in blood can cause many health disorders and a low calorie diet is known to increase levels of cortisol in the body.