Weekly plan for a crash diet

Within the framework of the crash diet, only the permitted foods may be eaten during the diet period. All other food, sugared drinks and alcohol are taboo. It is typical that a maximum of 800 calories may be consumed daily with food. Some Blitz diets even have a lower maximum, while the 24-hour diet with 1200 calories seems relatively generous.

Side effects of the crash diet

Crash diets do lead to a fast loss of weight, but most diets cause side effects that make it much harder to keep up. Most crash diets have a too low protein content, so that the body’s own muscle mass is lost over a longer period of time. Due to the low calorie intake of most mono diets, many users of the diet feel flabby and tired.

A performance weakness and concentration difficulties caused by the diet can lead to problems, especially in everyday working life. Many people who try a crash diet suffer from permanent hunger during the diet and especially in the first days there are ravenous attacks of cravings for sweets and salt. Occasionally, the change in diet can even cause unpleasant bad breath, which can make dealing with other people difficult and unpleasant.

All these reasons make it difficult for many users to stick to a crash diet over a longer period of time. Often the abrupt termination of a crash diet is followed by the dreaded yoyo effect. As a result, it is not uncommon to weigh more after the diet than before it.

Criticism of the Crash Diet

Crash diets are a very one-sided form of nutrition. Radical mono diets restrict meals to one or a few foods. This means that the body cannot be supplied with all the necessary vitamins, nutrients, trace elements and minerals at all.

Due to the lack of valuable substances, deficiency symptoms up to anaemia can occur over a longer dietary period. The monotony of the crash diet is therefore harmful and unhealthy if it is implemented over a period of more than a few days. If the body is supplied with a significantly lower amount of calories from one day to the next, the metabolism switches to the low flame.

This means that when the body gets more calories again, usually after the end of the diet, it tends to build up fat reserves in case “bad times” come again. If one eats a high-calorie, unhealthy and nibbling diet after a radical crash diet, a bad yo-yo effect often follows. The monotony and often permanent hunger make it very difficult for many people to stick to a radical crash diet. Some nutritionists are of the opinion that a crash diet for 2-3 days can be used as a starting point for a change of diet, but not as a diet for a few days or even weeks.