Diet is a word that can generally refer to your overall eating patterns or a specific style of eating dedicated to particular goals, be it general health, mental focus, gaining muscle, or losing weight. What and how you eat can result in good health, but it might also cause many different health conditions. Find out what different diets are and certain health conditions that might result from them.
What Types of Diets Exist?
There are more diets than you might think, but the following are some recent trends you might hear about.
- Carnivore: Also called the Zero Carb Diet, this eating plan involves only animal-based products without veggies, fruits, or grains.
- Dessert With Breakfast Diet: A high-protein breakfast with a sugary item seems like it shouldn’t lead to weight loss, but it might.
- IIFYM: If It Fits Your Macros is a flexible diet where you can eat what you like as long as you stay within set macronutrient limits.
- Intermittent Fasting: People on this diet consume their entire daily calories in a specified period before fasting for the remainder of their day.
- Keto: The ketogenic diet emphasizes restricting carbs so the human body starts burning fat as an alternate fuel source.
- Mediterranean: Heart-healthy foods with a minimum of dairy and red meat can increase longevity.
- Paleo: Also called The Caveman Diet, you can have meat, nuts, seeds, fruit, fish, and veggies, but you must avoid sugars, legumes, beans, dairy, grains, and processed foods.
- Sirtfood Diet: This diet emphasizes foods with lots of sirtuins, which are proteins responsible for regulating metabolism.
- Vegan: Veganism is exploding in popularity and avoids all animal-based products.
Potential Health Issues
A proper diet can keep your body fueled and healthy, but many diets might also result in potential health issues. Keep reading to find out specific ones that you should know about.
Drop of Metabolic Rate
The chemical processes of converting food in the human body into energy are known as metabolism. If your regular diet involves skipping meals, your metabolism can slow down your entire body. Too much caloric restriction might mean muscles start getting broken down for necessary energy, further compounding the slowdown.
Food Obsession
Food is necessary for health and survival, but thinking about it too much can lead to weight gain and other problems. Two different triggers are responsible for making you eat. The homeostatic pathway is stimulated when calories are required for maintaining basic metabolism and physical functions. Still, the hedonic pathway might override that and trigger food cravings for things you want but don’t need.
Dehydration
This condition happens when your body loses more fluids than you bring in, which can happen via tears, sweat, urine, vomiting, and diarrhea. Some diets, especially high-protein diets, can boost your risk of dehydration. Without enough fluids, the human body loses its ability to regulate temperature, excrete waste, and move nutrients throughout the inside systems.
Anorexia
The eating disorder of anorexia nervosa makes people obsess about how much they eat and weigh. Individuals diagnosed with this condition frequently exercise too much or starve themselves into weighing less than they should. Self-esteem problems often manifest, and there can be health consequences in the long run for being chronically underweight.
Hair, Nail, and Skin Problems
Certain dairy products can result in acne, hair issues, and other skin problems. A handful of high-glycemic diets can do the same thing. One particular skin complication that might develop is that of cystic acne. That’s when you get big, painful, red breakouts in the deeper layers of your skin. Pimples often happen with clogged pores that trap bacteria, resulting in infections that create a bump full of pus. Cystic acne requires treatment to prevent scars and ongoing complications. Cystic acne causes include several possibilities:
- Androgen hormones
- Pregnancy
- Polycystic ovary syndrome
- Some medications and skin products
- Sweating and high humidity
- Tight clothing
- Menopause
- Menstrual cycles
Contrary to some misinformation, acne doesn’t happen because of spicy foods, greasy foods, chocolate, sexual activity, or failing to wash your face frequently enough.
Heart Disease
Lifestyle is a big factor for heart disease, and that can make it hard for your body to keep pumping enough blood for everything to work. Cholesterol and certain fats in your diet can increase your risks. Excess sodium in the form of salt can boost your blood pressure and make your heart work harder than it needs to.
Stroke
A stroke is also known as a brain attack, and it involves a burst in the blood supply to or in the brain. The consequences can include death, long-term disability, and permanent brain damage. Diets high in sodium, cholesterol, trans fat, and saturated fats are risk factors for having a stroke.
Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes happens when the human body has trouble using and regulating sugar as a fuel source. High blood sugar levels can damage the immune, nervous, and circulatory systems. Diets high in carbs, sugar, and calories can increase the chances of diabetes and also exacerbate the condition after diagnosis.
Consult Your Physician
Dietary issues can cause and fix many health issues, but the hormones in your body might influence you to metabolize what you eat and drink. In some cases, HGH therapy is an option. Your doctor can arrange the blood testing necessary to diagnose this hormone deficiency. A prescription is necessary if the condition is confirmed. Fill out our form to see if this is an option for you.