Healthy Habits: How to Know if Your Diet is Plotting to Kill You

This guest post was written by Michael Volkin, inventor of Weight Loss Stack 52 (currently undergoing crowdfunding), the most unique and fun way to lose weight.

Is your diet actually bad for your body? It’s possible! Diets that restrict calories, and even some fad diets, can be harmful to your health in many ways. Don’t let the appeal of quick weight loss take trick you into harming your health.

A starvation diet is where you don’t consume the required calories and nutrients your body needs on a day to day basis. The fad starvation diets that are popular now include the Master Cleanse, the Ultra Extreme Calorie Restriction Diet, and the Clear Liquid Diet. Among other health concerns, each of these diet plans can lead to malnutrition. Malnutrition can cause emotional swings in the near term and liver and heart issues in the long term.

As an alternative to a starvation diet, you could try a healthier detox diet. Some of these include the Dr. Oz's 48 Hour Cleanse, Clean Program Diet and the MediFast Diet.

But let’s be honest, diets suck. Here is a general rule of thumb to help you know if the food you have on the plate in front of you will contribute to your weight gain, or help you lose weight: The more humans have monkeyed around with your food, the worse it is for your body. By that statement I mean, is your food processed? Does it contain ingredients on the label you can’t read easily? Is the expiration date on the package past the next scheduled Olympics?

To lose weight, and keep it off, don’t overthink it. A balanced diet of fresh foods containing healthy fats, protein and carbs, mixed with a little exercise will do the trick every time.