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The Health Risks of Restrictive Diets

My journey with restrictive diets is a long one, starting way back in junior high. I decided to avoid fat as much as possible in order to lose weight (as did so many others in the 80’s and 90’s).

I knew absolutely nothing about health or nutrition or even calories. I just knew that fat was the current villain.

Severely restricting fat intake did work to lose weight, but it also led me down a very unhealthy path both mentally and physically. That one decision led to diet after diet.

Sometimes it was out of necessity (while breastfeeding my kids with food allergies and severe reactions). Other times it was my latest quest for the diet that would alleviate all of my nagging health symptoms.

Regardless of the reason, I have come to one conclusion over the past 30 years:

Restrictive diets are risky, and most people don’t need them.

woman looking at a tiny salad

Are Fad Diets Healthy?

There are three main categories of restrictive diets.

  • Restricting food quantity for weight loss (cutting calories)
  • Restricting specific foods to target healing or to change a health outcome
  • Restricting specific foods due to the food’s impact on the body (food sensitivity, food allergy, etc.)

The first two can be considered fad diets. And there have been MANY over the past 50+ years. This can be anything from celery juicing to the milk diet to GAPS to keto to carnivore to vegan. Every macronutrient has at one point been a hero and at one point been a villain.

All of the fad diets make a health claim – giving you a desired outcome. But they also all can damage the body if done for too long or without guidance.

The Impact of Food Restriction on the Body

Regardless of your reason for restricting, it does have an impact on your body. Any long term restriction can cause deficiencies and imbalances.

As a Nutritional Therapist, I see this all the time with my clients. They remove certain foods that they heard are inflammatory or they jump on a diet bandwagon that seems to be doing wonders for a friend…only to feel worse than ever.

For example, I have had numerous clients come to me after a “gut healing protocol” feeling awful. Maybe they tried the GAPS diet (I did…bad decision), which is supposed to heal the gut and improve mental health. Turns out the GAPS diet is really high in histamine, which often leads to more food reactions in the long run. Plus it is meant for severe mental illness. Most people don’t realize that before jumping in.

RELATED: Do you have a histamine sensitivity?

One client in particular started having severe leg pain after a gut protocol. She had young children but was struggling to walk or play with them. Her body had become imbalanced, and her nervous system was dysregulated. And it all started with some restrictions aimed at healing.

meat and fish

Long-Term Side Effects of Carnivore

The latest diet that is getting a lot of hype is the carnivore diet. Basically, you eat all animal products and avoid plants. The claim is that it helps with weight loss, reduces inflammation, and improves digestion. It is an extreme form of a low-carb diet.

While animal products are a healthy part of any diet, the lack of plants is problematic. Plants give you fiber. Fiber is a prebiotic that feeds your microbiome. This is essential for optimal health and proper gut function. Long-term this can lead to worse digestion and a reduction in essential strains of bacteria in the gut.

The carnivore diet is also missing some key nutrients, especially Vitamin C.

Finally, God created us to eat plants. They haven’t morphed into something dangerous or poisonous to our bodies all of a sudden. Cutting out all plant foods is not in alignment with God’s Word. Adam and Eve were given every seed-bearing plant to eat in the Garden of Eden. Jesus called himself the “Bread of Life” and was born in Bethlehem, meaning “House of Bread.” Plants are good.

Is a Vegan Diet Healthy Long-Term?

The flip side of carnivore is vegan – no animal products, only plants. This is problematic as well. A vegan diet is typically lacking in sufficient and quality protein, leaning heavily on carbohydrates.

Meat is important for protein and essential nutrients, such as Vitamin A (retinol) and iron (heme iron). While healthy, beans and lentils just don’t have the same impact as meat.

Because protein is the building block for muscles and gives the body energy, lacking in quality protein can cause fatigue, muscle wasting, and overall low vitality.

The Israelites, God’s chosen people, were sent to a land flowing with milk and honey – two things you can’t consume on a vegan diet.

God gave us both plants and animals to eat. Why not enjoy them both?

vegan foods

How Restrictive Eating Habits Can Harm Your Health

Carnivore and vegan are just a couple of examples. But regardless of the diet, restrictive eating can impact both your physical and mental health.

Cutting out foods (especially nourishing, whole foods) can lead to ignoring hunger signals, binge eating, eating disorders, and an obsession with food. The diet that you start to fix your problems ends up causing a lot of mental anguish.

There are physical implications as well, including potential muscle loss, weight gain due to reduced metabolic function, new food sensitivities (often happens when the same food is eaten frequently due to a limited diet – a rotation diet can help prevent this), hair loss, weak bones, fatigue, imbalanced hormones (including dysregulating menstrual cycles), and worse digestive function.

The combination of worse mental health (including nervous system dysregulation) and nutrient depletion leads to new or worsening symptoms in the long run. This is not easily undone.

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Are Restrictive Diets Safe?

While there are many factors when it comes to your health, it largely boils down to an energy problem.

If your body has sufficient energy (even down to your mitochondria at a cellular level), you will feel better. Lack of energy equates to health-related symptoms.

Any time there is a restriction, it has the potential to deplete energy. The body has to work harder to stay in balance and compensate for imbalances. Sometimes this even results in the body pulling resources from bones and muscles just to function.

The body’s goal is to stay alive at all costs. When there is a restriction, sometimes survival means suboptimal function.

Did you know that the 2,000 calories per day intake for adults was originally set as a minimum? Meaning it is the lowest calorie intake recommended for basic function and survival. Yet many adults consume less than this daily.

Is Dietary Restriction Ever Necessary?

There are times when a restrictive diet is necessary. This is especially true if there are food allergies or sensitivities. If you are reacting to a food, it is best to remove it from your diet. However, the goal is short-term removal so the body can heal and then add foods back. I don’t recommend restrictions any longer than six months.

This is not always possible. But ideally, you want to expand your diet as much as possible, not limit it.

For some an elimination diet is necessary to pinpoint food reactions. This involves removing multiple foods until symptoms subside, then adding them back one at a time and observing for reactions. Again, this is meant to be a short-term restriction, not a permanent diet.

Even when it’s out of necessity, removing foods due to allergies or sensitivities can and most often does cause deficiencies and imbalances of essential vitamins and minerals. Every client I work with who has a limited diet due to food reactions has deficiencies. Having food allergies means you have to work extra hard at getting all of the essential vitamins and minerals.

Most restrictive diets follow a curve. You see some gains for the first few months, but by about the six-month mark, you start to go in the opposite direction – worse or new symptoms, worse or new food reactions, etc. A better strategy is to increase the variety in your diet and make little changes, such as trying new foods, every few weeks. Getting stuck in a dietary rut is not what you want.

woman with low energy

Dangers of Dieting

My journey with dieting started in junior high. Now, thirty years later as a mother of four, my journey continues. Not by choice, but by necessity. My restriction began a cascade of mental and physical health issues. While I have done some healing, my diet is much more limited than I would like due to the damage caused by my unnecessary restrictions.

My children have also had some pretty severe depletion due to food allergies. Though we have been able to greatly expand their diets over the years. Three of my kids can eat pretty much anything, while one still can’t tolerate dairy and nuts.

All three macronutrients are essential for good health and proper functioning of the body. Every person will have a unique balance that works best, but we all need quality protein, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats that come from both plants and animals.

The goal of a healthy diet is to put energy and essential nutrients into the body. If your diet is lacking in any of these, you’ll feel it.

I often tell my kids that if I had to choose only a few foods to eat to meet all of my needs I’d choose beef, freshly milled wheat, and oranges. Maybe a little butter as well. These foods would provide protein, carbohydrates, fiber, fat, and all essential vitamins and minerals. But I’m thankful we have a lot more options!

Bottom line – restrictive diets can be helpful if done short term. However, long-term restriction usually leads to a negative health outcome. Unless absolutely necessary, the only restriction I recommend is limiting ultra-processed foods. Stick to the JERF diet – Just Eat Real Food! You’ll feel better in the long run. Plus it’s way more fun to have an expansive diet!

Have you tried any restrictive diets? Did you have a favorable outcome?

The health risks of a restrictive diet

Unless otherwise credited, photos are owned by the author or used with a license from Canva or Deposit Photos.

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