D–E

diet aids Products that claim to expedite weight
loss. Diet aids may be products proclaimed as
APPETITEsuppressants (decrease the urge to eat) or
products or electronic devices advertised to “burn
away” fat. Though most such diet aids have lim-
ited or no value, the diet aid industry in the
United States generates about $30 billion in
annual sales.
Over-the-counter appetite suppressants typi-
cally contain diuretics (drugs that increase URINA-
TION), STIMULANTS such as pseudoephedrine (a
decongestant) and CAFFEINE, or bulking agents that
draw water after consumption and purport to
instill a sense of fullness. These kinds of products
may have a limited effect to decrease appetite
though may have undesired side effects such as
agitation and mucous membrane dryness.
Devices that claim to burn energy by stimulat-
ing MUSCLEfibers to contract may indeed stimulate
muscle contraction but do not generate enough
energy to affect the body’s metabolic balance.
Wraps, creams, and other substances applied to
the SKINthat proclaim to “melt away” fat lack sci-
entific basis for their claims. Many diet aids come
with diet plans that advise increased exercise and
reduced food intake—the only proven method for
weight loss.
See also DIET AND HEALTH; DIETING; “FAT BURNERS”;
NUTRITIONAL NEEDS; WEIGHT LOSS AND WEIGHT MANAGE-
MENT.

dieting The practice of temporarily altering one’s
food intake to achieve weight loss. Dieting
approaches typically restrict calories and often
food types. Though such approaches are effective
for short-term weight loss, they are not sustain-
able in the long term and many people regain the
lost weight in less time than it took to lose it.

Weight loss as a component of long-term weight

management requires lifestyle modifications that

dieting does not accommodate, such as increased

physical exercise and EATING HABITS that foster

healthful food choices.

Dieting tends to focus on restricting foods that

are high in calories, such as carbohydrates and fat.

Depriving the body of CALORIEintake forces it to

draw from stored energy sources such as glycogen

and body fat, though severe calorie restriction

(less than 800 calories a day) results in protein

METABOLISMand loss of LEAN MUSCLE MASSbecause

protein is easier for the body to convert to GLUCOSE

to meet its energy needs. Restrictive dieting is

likely to deprive the body of other needed NUTRI-

ENTS such as vitamins and minerals, and com-

monly results in food cravings for items the diet

does not allow.

Some dieting approaches are detrimental to

health over time. High-fat, low-carbohydrate diets

may achieve short-term weight loss but are likely

to result in increased levels of cholesterol and

triglycerides in the BLOODcirculation, raising the

risk for HYPERLIPIDEMIAand ATHEROSCLEROSISregard-

less of weight loss. As well, low-carbohydrate diets

cause the body to excrete more water than usual,

resulting in weight loss but not loss of body fat.

“Yo-yo” dieting, in which weight continually fluc-

tuates, is particularly harmful not only for long-

term weight management but also for the

glucose–INSULINbalance, generating increased risk

for INSULIN RESISTANCE. There is also the tendency to

regain the lost weight as well as additional weight

as somewhat of a rebound response in the form of

excessive eating when the restrictive diet ends.

People who have class 2 or 3 OBESITY, in which

adverse health conditions are either imminent or

already exist because of excessive body weight,

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