Bikini figure - Crash diet goes to the pounds, but also to the heart!

Regularly during the warm season, some people are surprised to discover that their bikini or swimsuit figure must have somehow suffered in the past months. Instead of a six-pack stomach, small curves are visible. Even the hips can't quite conceal the beginnings of hip fat. So something urgently needs to be done to be able to shine on the beach and on holiday with a dream figure. A "crash diet" is a good idea. It promises the greatest possible weight reduction in the shortest possible time with a correspondingly low calorie intake. But it is not without its risks.

Crash diet promotes temporary fatty heart

The success of crash diets is based on a very low calorie intake of a maximum of 800 kcal per day compared to the normal calorie intake, which is around 2000 and 2500 kcal per day. With this calorie reduction it is possible to reduce belly fat and weight within a short time. This has been proven by studies. The same applies to the fact that weight loss can be accompanied by better blood pressure and an improvement in sugar metabolism. So far so positive, if only a surprising change in the heart had not been observed in a study. The British cardiologists in charge of the study found that the fat content of the heart muscle increased significantly during the first weeks of the diet, which at the same time led to a weakening of the heart's pumping capacity. Although this counter-regulatory effect was only temporary and slowly returned to normal in the course of the diet, it still gave the cardiologists pause for thought, as not everyone who goes on a diet is also heart-healthy. That is why crash diets, no matter how successful, are not for people with heart disease. The risk of additional heart damage would simply be too high.

Conclusion: The crash diet can bring short-term weight loss success and point in the direction of the dream figure. People with a damaged heart should avoid the diet or only follow it under medical supervision.