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Shedding those extra pounds, without professional guidance, can be a Herculean task for anybody. Pointers to reduce weight are available a dime a dozen and the difficult part is to work out which one actually works. And first of all we need to know which of these can actually be harmful. Surprisingly, dieting, the first solution that comes to our mind might not be so good after all. Western Weight Loss Institute offers a natural alternative to dieting.

A diet works by reducing the calorie intake to equal the amount of energy we spend in the day. The energy intake is lowered hoping that no excess energy will be available to be converted to fat. Food habits are altered to suit our lifestyle and body needs. However, to focus on diet alone is to neglect the larger issues in obesity. Besides, dieting often entails starving or abrupt changes in the food habits that disturb the chemical balance in the body. Therefore, adequate understanding about dieting is important before making an informed choice.

Dieting causes a loss of sodium and water from the body (process called natriuresis), evident by a rapid initial weight loss. This could seem encouraging, but the lost sodium has other consequences as well. Lack of sodium can result in fatigue, mental confusion and even seizures. Excessive, acute sodium deficiency can even lead to life threatening conditions.

Diets continued over longer periods also have other physical and emotional consequences. It tends to leave you hungry and craving for food. The person may succumb to the stress and resort to binge-eating (eating large quantities at one go) for emotional release. The sudden large food intake puts the digestive system under pressure. Over a period of time such episodes of binge eating may inflame the pancreas and gall bladder leading to pancreatitis and gall stones. The feeling of guilt that accompanies binge-eating is another uncomfortable emotion to deal with. Self-induced vomiting, use of diet pills, and laxatives are used to get rid of this guilt and host problems of their own.

The low calorie diets so popular among dieters are not safe either. People on low calorie diets have been reported to suffer from irregular heart rate (called cardiac arrhythmias). Their blood sugar levels wary erratically and reduce efficiency. Instances were blood sugar levels dropped below substance levels (called hypoglycemia) with the potential to cause permanent damage to the brain have also been reported.

Women on unplanned, unscientific diets have irregular menstrual periods and lose out on bone density over a period of time. This osteoporosis is a major cause of the rising incidence of spine and hip fractures in old age. Other side effects of diets without essential nutrients include fatigue, dry skin and hair loss. Some pre-existing conditions may preclude from dieting. Diabetes is one such condition. A diabetic patient on a diet may very easily overload the metabolism with ketones, resulting in various degrees of metabolic disturbances called diabetic ketoacidosis.

Besides, it is now established that as dieting continues the body also adapts to adjust to the lowered calorie intake. It lowers the basal metabolic rate (minimum expenditure) making it even more difficult to lose weight. Given all the hazards dieting may put you through, with a lowered basal metabolic rate, it might not even work. Surely there are better ways to lose those extra pounds!!!

To learn a life changing, personal development approach to empower you to never diet again visit Western Weight Loss Institute.