Reasons Not To Diet in 2019 - #9: You'll get "diet face"
Ageing is normal…but no one wants to look old before their time!
“You can put your ID away…I can see that you’re over 21.”
~ Cashier at Walmart
Yes, “diet face” is a thing. Look it up.
One of the benefits of diet and exercise is supposed to be better skin, hair, and nails. Unfortunately, in our continued attempts to lose massive amounts of weight in short amounts of time through crash diets, we end up altering the ageing process…in a bad way.
Cutting out entire food groups, reducing calories to a semi-starvation state, and stressing over all of it can lead to looking older! One study showed that losing 10 lbs aged a woman by four years! It turns out that having fat in your face helps you look younger as you get older! But losing and regaining weight stretches the skin and then makes it sag more.
Let’s look at a few more reasons that fad diets cause “diet face”…
As I mentioned in this post, diets can cause vitamin and mineral deficiencies, many of which are necessary for healthy skin, hair, and nails.
Low calorie diets cause your body to shut down unnecessary functions to keep the necessary ones going. Skin secretions that keep your skin hydrated and healthy is one of the first places your body makes cuts.
Crash diets can ruin thyroid function and cause imbalances in estrogen and progesterone, leading to red patchy scales on skin, hair loss, and brittle nails.
Diets often cause deficiencies in the nutrients needed to maintain and create connective tissue, leading to more wrinkles, cellulite, and stretch marks.
Eliminating entire food groups and/or eating very low calorie for long periods of time can increase stress hormones like cortisol. Cortisol is known in anti-ageing research as the “death hormone” because it is associated with old age and disease.
The loss and regain of weight stretches the skin and eventually makes it sag.
As I mentioned here, extreme diets can cause hormonal imbalance leading to sudden acne flare ups and/or hyperpigmentation of the skin.
What you should do instead…
Anti-Diet Wisdom: Captain obvious…don’t go on crash diets that cause yo-yo weight fluctuations, hormone problems, and nutrient deficiencies! When considering a diet, first ask yourself — and be really honest — Can I maintain this diet forever?
If anti-ageing is a goal for you, that’s great! You don’t need a crash diet for that! Eat from a wide range of foods – especially veggies and fruits – that are known to improve skin appearance. Oranges and grapefruits, berries, broccoli, sweet potatoes, avocados, nuts, and fatty fish all contain nutrients that lead to bright and beautiful skin! I also have a secret weapon for skin, hair, and nails: collagen. I take two servings per day mixed into a smoothie, broth, or soup. You can check out my favorite brand here.
Blog Author: Kelly Bailey, IIN certified holistic nutrition coach, and NPTI certified personal trainer
Learn more about the author here.
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