Encyclopedia of Health and Medicine

D–E
diet aids Products that claim to expedite weight
loss. Diet aids may be products proclaimed as
APPETITE suppressants (decrease the urge to eat) or
products or electronic devices advertised to “burn
away” fat. Though most such diet aids have limited
or no value, the diet aid industry in the
United States generates about $30 billion in
annual sales.
Over-the-counter appetite suppressants typically
contain diuretics (drugs that increase URINA-
TION), STIMULANTS such as pseudoephedrine (a
decongestant) and CAFFEINE, or bulking agents that
draw water after consumption and purport to
instill a sense of fullness. These kinds of products
may have a limited effect to decrease appetite
though may have undesired side effects such as
agitation and mucous membrane dryness.
Devices that claim to burn energy by stimulating
MUSCLE fibers to contract may indeed stimulate
muscle contraction but do not generate enough
energy to affect the body’s metabolic balance.
Wraps, creams, and other substances applied to
the SKIN that proclaim to “melt away” fat lack scientific
basis for their claims. Many diet aids come
with diet plans that advise increased exercise and
reduced food intake—the only proven method for
weight loss.
See also DIET AND HEALTH; DIETING; “FAT BURNERS”;
NUTRITIONAL NEEDS; WEIGHT LOSS AND WEIGHT MANAGE-
MENT.
dieting The practice of temporarily altering one’s
food intake to achieve weight loss. Dieting
approaches typically restrict calories and often
food types. Though such approaches are effective
for short-term weight loss, they are not sustainable
in the long term and many people regain the
lost weight in less time than it took to lose it.
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Weight loss as a component of long-term weight
management requires lifestyle modifications that
dieting does not accommodate, such as increased
physical exercise and EATING HABITS that foster
healthful food choices.
Dieting tends to focus on restricting foods that
are high in calories, such as carbohydrates and fat.
Depriving the body of CALORIE intake forces it to
draw from stored energy sources such as glycogen
and body fat, though severe calorie restriction
(less than 800 calories a day) results in protein
METABOLISM and loss of LEAN MUSCLE MASS because
protein is easier for the body to convert to GLUCOSE
to meet its energy needs. Restrictive dieting is
likely to deprive the body of other needed NUTRI-
ENTS such as vitamins and minerals, and commonly
results in food cravings for items the diet
does not allow.
Some dieting approaches are detrimental to
health over time. High-fat, low-carbohydrate diets
may achieve short-term weight loss but are likely
to result in increased levels of cholesterol and
triglycerides in the BLOOD circulation, raising the
risk for HYPERLIPIDEMIA and ATHEROSCLEROSIS regardless
of weight loss. As well, low-carbohydrate diets
cause the body to excrete more water than usual,
resulting in weight loss but not loss of body fat.
“Yo-yo” dieting, in which weight continually fluctuates,
is particularly harmful not only for longterm
weight management but also for the
glucose–INSULIN balance, generating increased risk
for INSULIN RESISTANCE. There is also the tendency to
regain the lost weight as well as additional weight
as somewhat of a rebound response in the form of
excessive eating when the restrictive diet ends.
People who have class 2 or 3 OBESITY, in which
adverse health conditions are either imminent or
already exist because of excessive body weight,