Jul 29 2009
The Dangers of Fad Dieting – Woman Dies on Liquid Diet of Soup and Water
The Dangers of Fad Dieting – Woman Dies on Liquid Diet of Soup and Water
The case of a young mother, Helen Anderson, 26, who tragically died after putting herself on a diet of soup and water, was highlighted in the news this week.
The liquid crash diet had triggered a fatal bodily reaction after being starved of sugar which resulted in her death.
The lack of sugar intake caused her body to eat its own stored fat reserves. As a consequence, lethal toxins were released into her bloodstream.
This was a diet that the young woman had created herself in order to try and lose six stone for her engagement party to a man who she had met online.
The diet consisted of water and cups of soup only, after eliminating solid food from the diet completely.
With the body being starved of enough necessary sugars from carbohydrates, it will begin to take from the stored fats.
That in turn can produce by products called ketones, which if left to build up are toxic to the system.
This principle of diet is behind many low-carbohydrate diets which it is advised should not be used for longer than a period of 14 days.
Anderson went from 15st to 9st 2lb in just over 14 weeks which was at the lower end of the Body Mass Index scale.
This abrupt weight loss caused the body to suffer a metabolic chemical reaction called ketoacidosis.
The South Tyneside coroner stated: “It arises as a result of the body reacting to a lack of sugar within itself, and that was in part a consequence of the intensive diet with which Helen was attempting to balance her weight.”
He added that the condition can develop suddenly without the victim being aware of the dangers: “I am totally certain that she had no intention to cause harm to herself.” -
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- Another case reported on the infoniac website details the dangers of liquid only diets -
”Sometimes the fight for perfection can lead to tragic results. This is exactly what happened to the 40-years-old Jacqueline Henson, who decided to stay on a diet made according to the recipe of a company, called LighterLife. The woman died because of a swelling on the brain.
The recipe of losing weight was very simple: the woman had to drink a lot of water in accordance to a certain program. On November, 14th, she sat in front of the TV, with 2 bottles of water, 2 litres each one, and started to drink water from a pint glass.
Two hours later, Jacqueline didn’t feel well, so she went into the bathroom, where she collapsed. Doctors could not help the woman who died in the hospital without coming into her senses. The necropsy showed that the large amount of water had taken all the salts out of her body.
The authors of the diet affirm that it was an accident. The coroner who investigated the death of the British woman also agreed with this version. “No one should drink that quantity of water in such a short period of time and the woman had not respected the strict timetable she had,” he said.
- Swelling of the brain -
As a consequence of excessive water drinking, it causes death quite rarely, but the fact remains: too much water in a short period of time causes a dysfunction of the kidneys since they cannot process it, thus the water is being restrained in the body in the form of swellings, including brain swelling, leading to death”.
When embarking on a diet it is wise to seek advise on suitability from your doctor.
research: the Sun
infoniac.com/health
