AR
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Doctors have warned people against fad diets after reports noted that Australian cricket great Shane Warne had completed a two-week juice cleanse before his death.
The sports legend passed away at the age of 52 of a suspected heart attack in Thailand.
While it has not yet been confirmed whether his apparent drastic diet was a cause of his demise, doctors have advised people against such diets.
According to the police, the cricketer was experiencing chest pains days before his death. He was also suffering from asthma and heart issues.
Days before his death, Warne had posted an old picture of himself without a shirt on Instagram. In the post, he revealed that he was working hard to get back in shape under what he named “operation shred".
Speaking about the cricketer's juice diet in a recent interview, Warne’s manager James Erksine said that Warne would go on "ridiculous sorts of diets".
"He just finished one, where he basically only ate fluids for 14 days and he’d done this three or four times. It was a bit all or nothing. It was either white buns with butter and lasagne stuffed in the middle or he would be having black and green juices,” Mr Erksine added.
In this regard, Yasmine Haddad, a licensed clinical dietitian at Dubai’s myPediaclinic, warned people of the dangers related to fad diets.
According to the expert, a fad diet is an "impractical way" of losing weight under which people tend to deprive their bodies from basic macronutrients and energy in order to lose big amount of weight in short duration.
“Even though these diets do make you lose weight, the weight loss is drastic, which may have a negative health impact and can never be maintained," Haddad said.
Dr Faaraz Zaveri, a specialist cardiologist at Dubai’s Prime Medical Centre in Al Barsha, underlined that such liquid diets affect the metabolism, including the body's handling of fluids and salts. He noted that liquid and extremely-low calorie diets prevent the body's vital organs from getting oxygen and proper nourishment from food.
Lack of proper nourishment impact the organs' functional capacity, leading to fluid retention. It results in extreme tiredness and shortness of breath, further leading to congestive heart failure.
He added that excess or deficiency of fluids can result in development of hypokalaemia, hyperkalaemia or hypomagnesemia which in turn results in the development of arrhythmia. It can increase the risk of sudden cardiac arrest, stroke and heart attacks for people with and without cardiac issues.
“To be healthy, it’s best to adopt balanced eating habits and integrate physical activity into your everyday life," Dr Zaveri added.
Dr Naveed Ahmed, a consultant interventional cardiologist at Aster Hospital, warned people to be aware of advertisements that promote extreme diet plans.
“Most of the time people are following advertisements that falsely promote that this sort of diet will give them a good body or cleans all the diseases,” he said.
The doctor suggested people to consult a dietitian or medical specialist for a proper diet plan.
SOURCE: The National News