The Dangers of Restrictive Dieting
By: Sharon Nguyen a dietetic intern with Nourishment Works, Summer 2023-Spring 2024
Nowadays, it seems that new weight loss trends emerge every other week, many of which claim to be miracle solutions.
So, how does one navigate choosing the “best” diet in a sea of endless options?
Well, it's a bit tough to pick the “best” diet when none really work.
Photo of measuring tape wrapped around a fork.
Dietary Restrictions vs. Restrictive Dieting
Many folks confuse the concept of dietary restrictions and restrictive dieting.
The term diet itself is broad and all-encompassing, referring to the range of food regularly consumed by a person or group. However, when one engages in dieting, they are typically referring to restrictive dieting.
Dietary restrictions are defined as limitations due to cultural, medical, moral, or religious reasons. Examples include food allergies/sensitivities, kosher, Celiac disease, diabetes, veganism, lactose intolerance, etc. Those with dietary restrictions often supplement their intake in various ways to ensure proper nutrition. In contrast, restrictive dieting refers to the act of engaging in rigid food rules or eating patterns in the service of weight loss or changing the body. Common manifestations include cutting calories or limiting entire food groups. Restrictive dieting does more harm than good.
Diet Culture’s Toxic Messaging
The literature is clear: restrictive dieting has little scientific backing to support long-term efficacy. Of those who achieve short-term weight loss, 80% experience weight regain after 1 year. After 3 years, this number increases to a staggering 95%. Thus, the average dieter has a mere 5% chance of achieving lasting results through restrictive methods.
Nearly 45 million Americans still diet every year despite these unlikely odds. Given the pervasive existence of diet culture in Western society, this fact is both understandable and disheartening.
Diet culture glorifies smaller body types over others. This oppressive belief system fuels weight stigma, thin privilege, and fatphobia (anti-fat bias). It is the driving force behind the weight loss industry, worth over 75 billion to date. Diet culture moralizes food, arbitrarily labeling it as “good” or “bad”. It finds no problem fear-mongering and recommending sole reliance on external cues to dictate consumption. It believes we can and should attempt to control our bodies through restriction and deprivation.
Diet culture and its toxic messaging are everywhere. Diet culture is harmful. Diet culture is dangerous. Diet culture must actively be fought against.
The Body Fights Back
Restrictive diets lead to weight cycling, not weight loss. To further reiterate this point, let's take a deeper dive into why dieting doesn't work.
The fundamental theory behind restrictive dieting assumes the common misconception that weight loss occurs simply via calories in, calories out (CICO). The issue with this ideology is that it does not take into consideration the vast complexities of the human body.
Furthermore, calories themselves are difficult to accurately track. According to the FDA, counts on modern food labels can have up to a 20% margin of error because everyone extracts and burns energy differently. Factors such as individual metabolism and gut microbiome composition all play a role in the digestibility of calories by the body.
When one engages in heavy caloric restriction, the body enters a negative energy balance. In turn, the dieter may experience a momentary drop on the scale.
Our bodies, however, are extremely biologically adaptable! Sensing that we cannot remain in this state for long, specific metabolic processes initiate to protect our energy stores. The dieter’s metabolism slows down in an effort to be as efficient as possible. If the body reaches a state of malnourishment, it defaults to utilizing muscle mass for energy, which only further decreases basal metabolic rate (the rate of energy expenditure to perform basic functions). Additionally, Hormonal changes. a decrease in leptin (fullness/satiety signaler) and an increase in ghrelin (hunger signaler) contributes to an amplified neurological craving for calorically dense, nutrient-rich foods.
Failed diets are essentially the body succeeding at doing what it was made to do: keeping itself alive. In the fight to regain what was lost, the body may end up overcompensating which explains why many dieters fall into the vicious binge-restrict cycle or experience regain that surpasses initial starting weight.
The Physical Cost
Not only does dieting not garner the intended results, but it also introduces a plethora of serious potential health issues.
Macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, and fat) serve vital, life-sustaining functions. Micronutrients cannot be adequately produced in the body, so they must be derived from food to meet the recommended daily intake.
Prolonged deprivation often leads to deficiencies and malnutrition, which may bring on a host of other issues such as: irritability, mood swings, fatigue, brain fog, dysphagia, nausea, gastrointestinal problems, liver damage, cardiovascular complication, lowered immunity, anemia, diminished sex drive, amenorrhea, dehydration/electrolyte imbalances, poor body temperature regulation, pancreatitis, depleted bone density, poor sleep quality, hair loss, and in severe cases even death.
The physical health risks that arise from restrictive dieting are truly endless.
A Potential Precursor For Eating Disorders
Unfortunately, many attribute failed diets to poor discipline or willpower. While this is far from the case, such viewpoints can trigger feelings of guilt, shame, and low self-confidence. From here, dieters may double down on their deprivation, experience intense cravings, break the diet, binge, and eventually restrict once again. The binge-restrict cycle is just one example of how chronic dieting can develop into an eating disorder.
Though engaging in dieting does not inherently guarantee the development of an eating disorder, it certainly poses as a significant risk factor. Studies reveal moderate dieters are 5 times more likely to develop an eating disorder, while those who engage in extreme restriction are 18 times more likely to develop an eating disorder.
Food and mood are very closely biochemically related. Preoccupation with body weight/size/shape, suppression of hunger cues, and food obsession contribute to an unhealthy relationship with food. Distressing emotions around eating may also exacerbate existing mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Takeaways
It’s time to reject the diet mentality altogether. Dieting doesn’t work. Making peace with food will truly bring more fulfillment than dieting ever could.
Key reminders
Rewiring the brain from ingrained diet culture messaging will take time and patience. In the journey to break free from the toxicity, treat yourself gently and with kindness.
Weight is not a comprehensive indicator of health. There are many factors that contribute to the predisposition of an individual’s body size such as genetics, ethnicity, age, and sociocultural environment. Wellness is achievable in bodies of all sizes. Embrace the Health at Every Size (HAES) philosophy, in which holistic self-care is prioritized over weight loss.
Food is much more than just fuel. Food nourishes many aspects of our emotional and mental health, not just the physical. Food is both something our bodies need to survive and something to be enjoyed. Intuitive eating encourages the practice of gentle nutrition, in which an individual trusts and honors intrinsic hunger, fullness and satisfaction cues.
Assure your inner circle includes loving, supportive people who do not make harmful comments or voice destructive beliefs around diet and weight.
You are not alone in your thoughts or feelings - each individual is unique, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. If you are experiencing body dissatisfaction, cyclic dieting, or disordered eating, seek professional support. For information on groups we offer, please visit our groups page.
Remember- recovery is about progress, not perfection.