by Peter Sedesse

Created on: February 03, 2010   Last Updated: February 04, 2010

There are actually serious dangers of eating too healthily.  Most of the danger comes when people take advice to the extreme and don´t understand that even some very notorious things are needed in moderation.  Words like fat, salt, calories and carbohydrates have become almost synonymous with an unhealthy diet, but in factall of those things are needed by the body. 

Carbohydrates in particular are avoided too much and the negative long-term impact of the high protein fad diets has not yet been fully realized by most individuals.

One of the most important areas where an overly healthy diet can be dangerous is with vitamin absorption.  Many people do not understand the difference between fat-soluble and water-soluble vitamins, but the fact is that many vitamins, including vitamins A, D, E and K or fat-soluble.  This means that these vitamins absolutely require fat to be eaten for them to be absorbed by the small intestines.  In extremely low fat diets, vitamin A, D, E or K deficiencies will occur because any of those vitamins that are consumed will pass completely through the digestive tract without ever being absorbed.

A reduction in fat consumption is an important part of any diet, however, remove the excess fat from bad foods like fast food.  It is important to ingest fat with every meal so that your body can pull all the necessary nutrients out of the food as it passes through the digestive tract.  A good compromise is to drink a glass of 2% milk with meals.

Carbohydrates are a necessary nutrient that the body uses as its main source of energy production.  In the absence of sufficient carbohydrates, the body will use protein and fat in larger amounts.  While this may sound like a great thing for dieters, there are many, many risks with this, both short and long term.  The short term risks mainly have to do with the fact that your body is not very efficient at pulling energy from protein and fat.  The first few days on a low carbohydrate diet, your body will simply not produce enough energy for normal body function.  Dieters will feel light-headed, lethargic and tired.  Normal brain function is one of the most noticeable changes that occurs from lack of energy.  Mood changes and mood swings are common because the brain does not have the energy to remain stable. 

After a few weeks, your body will become more adept at using protein and fat for its primary energy source, but until that time, don't expect to exercise much or take any important exams.  The longterm effects of a low carb diet are beginning to emerge as increased cases of kidney disease emerge.  In basic terms, the byproducts of protein metabolism (making energy from protein) are harmful to the body. At low levels, this is not a problem, but individuals on a high protein, low carb diet are producing huge amounts of those chemicals and the body is just not built to handle it.  Remember, the body was made to process carbohydrates and deal with those byproducts.  The kidneys and heart in particular are hard hit by the excessive amounts of byproducts of protein metabolism.

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