Expert warns against self imposed diet therapy to avoid health complications

Jane Eleodi, a Clinical Dietitian and Nutritionist, on Wednesday advised women to consult nutrition experts before crashing diets or taking slimming drugs to prevent health complications.
Eleodi, who works with JSPRINGS Nutrition and Dietary Health Initiative, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that there were some beneficial fats in the body, which were not meant to be burnt.
She said: “There are beneficial fats in the body such as the ones lining the intestine, the ones structuring the heart, liver and other organs in the body.
“When one crashes diets or takes slimming drugs which are not coded enough to know which fat is beneficial to the body or not ,there is the tendency of losing this beneficial fats, leading to complications in the body.
“These complications can collapse the liver or heart, or shrink the intestine with time. It can even lead to death.
“This is why I recommend meeting with a registered dietitian who can take into account your health history, lifestyle habits, likes and dislikes, and develop an eating or diet plan that is specific to your health or body needs.”
Eleodi lamented that many women who desired to lose weight consulted the internet and crashed diets by adopting mediterranean and ketogenic dieting.
According to her, starting these diet plans without consulting an expert can lead to the shrinking of the intestine.
She said: “In ketogenic dieting, you take foods with little or no carbohydrates and there is need to consider those body parts that need anaerobic respiration for their survival.
“It’s only carbohydrates that produce energy for anaerobic respiration and if the body does not get enough carbohydrate for some time, such parts begin to die off, which can cause a long term health complication.
“Also liver stores glycogen as an energy source gotten from carbohydrate. When the liver’s glycogen store is depleted due to insufficient intake of carbohydrate, the liver could collapse.
“Adopting keto dieting without proper consultation can lead to Keto-acidiosis, which is the poisoning of the body system by excess ketone.
“Therefore, you need a relevant physician like a dietician to avoid the complications associated with it.
“Some patients have also discovered that the keto-dieting is not sustainable because the moment you stop it, you go back to triple of the normal body weight.
“These patients also complained of body weakness, fatigue, some even go into coma.
“Consulting a nutritionist or dietician can help avoid these complications because a healthier non keto-diets will be prescribed, which makes one stronger and lose weight at the same time.”