Recently, with temperatures rising, shedding heavy winter clothes has revealed unsightly waistlines, beer bellies, and extra weight, making weight loss a top priority for many. Amid the financial crisis, gyms and weight loss centers are expensive, leading many to search for various weight loss secrets online. Among these, the intermittent fasting method, the ginger and black tea diet, and the three-day apple diet have quietly gained popularity. However, experts warn that blindly pursuing rapid weight loss through unscientific methods such as extreme fasting or misuse of food, or relying on folk remedies, will only harm one's health.
There are all sorts of weight loss remedies online.
Faced with the financial crisis, many young women have seen their wallets shrink and are turning to the internet for cheap weight loss methods.
Recently, a reporter saw on a well-known weight loss forum that a user named Xiaobai had tried the so-called "three-day apple diet." In her post, Xiaobai wrote, "I adhered to this diet of 'eating only apples and no other meals' for three days and lost a total of 3 kilograms; after resuming my normal diet, I gained back 1 kilogram." Xiaobai also stated that she plans to stick to it for 10 days next time for even better weight loss results.
The reporter found that many people commented on the forum, and many expressed their willingness to try it after seeing how effective it was. However, some netizens who had tried it warned that eating only apples for three days could cause nausea at the sight of apples afterward, and some people who persisted in the long term even developed anorexia nervosa.
Blindly following folk remedies is bad for your health
The "three-day apple diet" is neither scientific nor reasonable, and is more likely to harm your health and cause rebound weight gain. Zheng Qing, a gastroenterologist at Renji Hospital, said that while apples can aid in weight loss in terms of calories and satiety, they should not be used as a staple food. Otherwise, it can lead to insufficient protein intake, weakened immunity, memory loss, anemia, and indigestion. The "three-day apple diet" does not consider nutritional balance, and the weight loss is mostly water weight.
Besides the three-day apple diet, other popular online diets include the "no food after noon" diet, the "ginger and black tea diet," the "eight-day honey diet," and the "honey and vinegar diet." The "no food after noon" diet refers to ceasing all solid food and consuming only fruit and water after lunch (generally after 2 pm). While it may show significant short-term effects, it is detrimental to health in the long run due to insufficient energy intake.
The "ginger and black tea diet" utilizes the spiciness of ginger to generate heat in the body, boosting metabolism and burning calories to achieve weight loss. However, if the user has gastrointestinal issues, the irritation from ginger may worsen their condition. The "eight-day honey diet" and the "honey and vinegar diet" may weaken the digestive function of gastric juices, hindering normal absorption and disrupting normal digestion. While these methods may indeed lead to short-term weight loss, they lack scientific basis, and long-term use will only have adverse effects on the body.
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