Restrictive diets - more harm than good?

Throughout the year, many people cut down on food types to try and improve their health. But is it safe to eliminate certain food groups from our diet?

Low-fat diets

We all know that high levels of fat in the body can lead to raised cholesterol levels, increasing the risk of heart disease. Many people are eager to cut fat out of their diets to try and shift a few pounds. However, cutting fat completely from the diet can do more harm than good, as dietary fat is essential to keep the body healthy.

Fat plays a wide range of roles in the body such as synthesising hormones, helping the absorption of key vitamins and helping to maintain body temperature. Knowing the difference between saturated fats (found in butter, cheeses, red meat and other animal-based foods) and unsaturated fats (found in oily fish, vegetable-based oils and nuts) is important when deciding which fats to cut out. Unsaturated fats protect the heart while saturated fats can increase the risk of heart damage and disease. So whilst it might be beneficial to reduce the intake of certain types of fats, cutting them out altogether may not be advisable.

Reducing alcohol intake

After drinking alcohol, around 30% is absorbed straight into the blood through the stomach. Once in the blood, alcohol can move into nearly every tissue in the body. Because of this, alcohol is linked to more than 60 different medical conditions. Long-term heavy drinking can increase the risk of various cancer types such as mouth, throat and bowel cancer. Alcohol is also capable of lowering the body’s white blood cell count, which weakens the immune system. Of all the organs affected, the liver is particularly susceptible to alcohol-related injury because 90% of alcohol metabolism occurs here. If the liver is exposed to high alcohol levels, it is not able to break it down quickly enough, and the excess alcohol can cause damage to the liver. Over time high levels of alcohol can cause the accumulation of fat in the liver which increases inflammation and causes scar tissue to form. This can eventually lead to the development of liver disease.

Because liver disease doesn't usually cause any major signs or symptoms until it's advanced, our Liver Blood Test is a comprehensive examination of liver enzymes such as gamma GT (GGT), alanine transferase (ALT), and aspartate transferase (AST) which can be raised if the liver is damaged. This check is perfect for those who want to find out if their lifestyle is damaging their liver. For a more comprehensive screen, our Advanced Well Man and Advanced Well Woman Blood Tests include a liver check along with tests for C-reactive protein, cholesterol status, and vitamins D, B12, and folate.

Low carbohydrate diets

Another popular food type that many people try to reduce or cut from their diet is carbohydrates. The ketogenic diet encourages the elimination of carbohydrates for the body to produce small fuel molecules called ketones. These are produced by the liver from fat used as an alternative fuel for the body when sugar is in short supply. Eating carbohydrates have a big impact on blood sugar and insulin levels and restricting carbohydrates helps to lower sugar levels and insulin needs. High sugar levels play a part in almost all chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, dementia, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.

Although too much sugar is bad for our health, sugar is vital for the normal functioning of the body. Carbohydrates contain essential vitamins and minerals including calcium, vitamin C, and iron as well as dietary fibre. Because carbohydrates can interfere with hormone production, in some women following a low carbohydrate diet can cause damaging side effects. Cutting carbohydrates from the diet can interrupt a woman’s menstrual cycle, and disrupt the production of thyroid hormones over time, leading to fatigue, poor concentration and irritability. Although some people may see fast weight loss results upon following a ketogenic diet, cutting all carbohydrates out can be difficult to uphold over a long period which can lead to people regaining the weight they have lost.

How to check yourself

Because cutting certain food types out of your diet may lead to deficiencies in essential vitamins and minerals, it is important to check your health status when changing your diet. Our Diet and Lifestyle Checks are perfectly suited to check how your choices are affecting your health. Get insights into your liver and kidney function, cholesterol, diabetes risk, B vitamins, and more.