Who doesn’t want to lose weight to look slim and trim, especially if the person is morbidly obese? And if a commercial advertisement promises to help you lose weight rapidly without much fuss, the sheer joy of happiness knows no bounds. But is rapid weight loss a realistic idea, or it’s just another clickbait floating its way into our newsfeed? But most importantly, is it safe? Let’s do a quick fact check before advertising claims take our mind over.

Rapid Weight Loss – An Overview

Obesity is a major concern amongst the population in the United States. No wonder why fitness studios and their weight loss programs are cashing in on the situation to dictate a billion-dollar industry. Therefore, people struggling with overweight issues and other related health concerns tend to fall for the bold claims of rapid weight loss. Most rapid weight loss ideas fall into four prominent diet categories: Starvation Diets, Diet Pills, Supplements, Very Low-Calorie Diets.

Starvation Diets

Beyoncé and her Coachella diet grabbed headlines in 2019 when her massive body transformation became well-evident. She also talked about her juiced-based master cleanse technique, part of her starvation diet program. The concept is to detoxify yourself by saying no to carbs, meats, sugar, and other dairy products. This is an extremely restrictive starvation diet. It promises to make you look healthy in a few months. However, it includes potential health hazards.

Diet Pills and Supplements

Diet pills or weight loss drugs have also become popular as one of the rapid weight loss regimens. The basic concept of these diet pills is to increase the metabolism rate of your body quickly. When that happens, your body burns calories quicker than usual. These pills or supplements also claim to block the incoming nutrients from being absorbed by the body and help you keep the unnecessary fat at bay.

Very Low-Calorie Diets

It’s a type of diet plan where people drastically reduce their daily consumption of food. This diet program is quite popular as part of the most rapid weight loss program. This typically uses the meal replacement formula, and morbidly obese people may get to see the results in a few weeks if followed methodically. Experts can medically supervise VLCDs. However, Very Low-Calorie Diets are not ideal for everyone due to their adverse side effects.

Is Rapid Weight Loss Effective?

You might have come across multiple rapid diet loss advertisements out there. But unfortunately, most of them are based on tall claims. These commercial pills and supplements reign supreme and promise the world to the users. Most of these products are available over the counter in retail locations without any prescription. And that is because the FDA treats them as foodstuffs instead of medications. The idea of the rapid weight loss concept is to reduce your weight dramatically within a few weeks, if not days.

If you consult certified dietitians or physicians, they will always show you the hard way to keep your weight that involves sensible dietary plans and ample exercise. More than short-term goals, they are concerned about the side effects that these random commercial products usually result in. As these dietary supplements are not FDA approved, you cannot be sure of the results, even if you consume them as prescribed.

Side Effects of Rapid Weight Loss

Rapid development does not always end up with great success. Sometimes, it has adverse side effects. The most common side effects include headaches, fatigue, constipation, muscle loss, and so on. But it can go further in the form of malnutrition and even gallstones. When you replace your usual meals with very low-calorie diets all of a sudden for quick results, things may go haywire. Forming gallstones is the prime example of it.

You cannot just shred large amounts of weight quickly without noticing side effects. For instance, gallbladder stones appear in 12% to 25% of people. As protein is the building block of our body, a no or low-protein diet is another risky diet plan that involves the risk of malnutrition.

Rapid weight loss could see you shred unnecessary fat of your body if done under medical guidance. You may not see results in a blink of an eye, but with methodical practices and proper exercise, the result can be evident in a healthier way.