Obesity is fast becoming one of the top causes of health problems in Americans these days. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), two-thirds of the adult population of the US is overweight, and about one-third is suffering from obesity. It’s not surprising that to achieve weight loss, more and more people subscribe to fad diets.

The truth is that the same thought patterns and habits that caused people to become overweight or obese are the same habits and thought patterns that make “get thin quick” diets so popular. Instant gratification is rarely going to give you the real thing.

One of the more popular diets is the high-protein low carbohydrate diet. This diet works by pumping up the protein content of your daily food intake while drastically cutting down on carbohydrates. Typically, this kind of diet encourages cutting down your carbohydrate intake to just a fraction of the recommended daily intake.

By doing this, the body reverts to the metabolic state called ketosis. The body actually uses carbohydrates as fuel to produce energy. If a body is in the state of ketosis, this means that the body has no usable carbohydrates because you’re not eating any, so what it does is it burns up the fats in your body for fuel. In a nutshell, your body becomes powered by fats instead of carbohydrates. The fats that you have stored by excessive eating become its own source of energy. Sounds good? Theoretically it should promote effective weight loss, but in reality, that weight loss comes at a cost.

The risks of adopting a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets are:

  • Kidney failure – too much protein in the diet can put a strain on your kidneys. This is especially true if you already have a preexisting kidney condition, which makes this type of diet extremely dangerous to your health.
  • Kidney stones – over a period of time, high protein low carbohydrate diets can cause you to excrete more calcium than normal through your urine. The end result is kidney stones and possible osteoporosis.
  • Cancer – most foods that contain carbohydrates also contain vital vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants that can prevent cancer. These components cannot always be found in proteins. This risk may be lessened by picking the kind of protein you consume. There are types of proteins that are nutrient-rich and may provide a part of your body’s needs for them.
  • High cholesterol – most protein sources also contain high cholesterol level.
  • Ketosis – it’s an unhealthy metabolic state, even if it does promote weight loss. It may lead to gout, kidney stones, and kidney failure. The body needs at least 100 grams of carbohydrates every day to prevent going into ketosis.

Weight loss is ultimately supposed to be healthy. Going through a weight loss program that induces an unhealthy state may make you fit into your old jeans eventually, but defeats the purpose of weight loss which is to be healthy and to feel better about yourself.

Consult your doctor and nutritionist before attempting to try a type of diet. You may also integrate a more active lifestyle together with a balanced diet plan and some natural diet pills like Proactol to meet your weight loss goals.

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