The hidden dangers of fad diets

Jamaica and the wider Caribbean need to make a move away from fad diets and make a paradigm shift towards wellness (balance).

The Atkins, and more recently the popular South Beach diets, have become a craze with many Jamaicans extolling their benefits. The foundation of the Atkins diet is high protein consumption. The South Beach diet, currently the Hollywood craze, and a seeming revised Atkins diet, also has a high protein content. Both diets, while they have produced some results, have hidden dangers.

Protein is obtained mainly from dairy foods which often accompanies meat consumption. These foods affect all organs and systems. However, because it is a product of mammary gland, it primarily affects the human glands and related structures, particularly the reproductive organs. The most commonly affected are the breasts, uterus, ovaries, pituitary gland and the cochlea in the ear. Its adverse effects first appear as the accumulation of mucus and fat, and then the formation of cysts, tumors and finally cancer. Accumulation of fatty deposits from consuming dairy foods, in the kidneys and the gall bladder can lead to stones. Common problems from dairy also include vaginal discharges, ovarian cysts and cancer, fibrosis and uterine cancer. For the lungs, fat and mucus accumulation in the air sacs cause breathing difficulties. In combination with tobacco, diary foods can trap tar and other ingredients of tobacco smoke in the lungs, often leading to lung cancer.

Balance is critical to any organism and these diets are not designed to restore balance. When the individual is overweight, it’s an indication that the body is completely out of balance. To suggest eating excess protein is only exacerbating the problem because it increases the acidity of the body, creating the environment for disorders and diseases.

Jamaica and the Caribbean have a diet mainly of greasy fatty foods, sugars, denatured white flour and rice, all acidic foods. If one’s body is already overly acidic why should that individual be consuming more protein? Protein converts to fat and the excess is stored in various organs, but mainly the liver and the skin (sebaceous gland and subcutaneous layer). When this occurs the entire cardiovascular system, the heart and the pulmonary system is a great risk, creating a level of toxemia which ultimately impacts the body negatively. The resulting consequences are heart disease, diabetes, stroke, fibroids, prostate problems, and cancer, all manifestations of over-acidity.

When the individual goes on a protein diet he/she is losing water and not fat, as the fat is being replaced by the fatty foods consumed. This slows down the body’s metabolism and the cells become hypoactive, encouraging disorders and diseases. One can reverse this storage by becoming active and shifting to a more balanced diet using non-acidic (alkaline foods). But balance depends on the individual’s metabolic condition and disorders. So an all-encompassing diet is a fallacy, one man’s medicine could be another’s poison. We are all different genetically and developmentally, as a result what is needed is diet-specific to the individual’s condition and needs.

Undoubtedly protein is essential, but excess is most detrimental to physical, mental and emotional well-being.

Why do people use these diets? Perhaps when they begin to lose the water they are satisfied with the pounds lost. But what happens to the fat, where is it stored? It is also stored in the liver for utilisation; however, the excess is passed on to gall bladder, adrenal glands, kidneys and the bladder. When the kidneys get oil in its ventricles, which were not designed to accommodate this, it will malfunction. This causes the related partners the bladder and the skin to do the same. These organs and glands which are critical for maintaining optimal health, comprise not only the digestive and excretory systems, but the endocrine system as well.

The excretory system is one of the most valuable systems in body because it controls the nervous and endocrine systems, the body’s defense mechanism.

Next time you contemplate changing your diet to lose weight, first investigate the hidden dangers.

Ted Emanuel is a Naturopathic Physician.