Influencers seeking to achieve fame on social networking sites are turning into guinea pigs for the most popular slimming diets currently, such as intermittent fasting or the apple diet, to lose 5, 10, or 30 kilograms, which is a “deadly” and risky trend, according to specialists interviewed by Agence France-Presse. .
A woman says, in a video clip posted on TikTok that received more than 45,000 likes, “You wake up and abstain from eating, and when lunchtime comes, you can eat whatever you want.” This woman was talking while eating cold meat, potatoes and sandwiches after a period of fasting.
A French influencer recommends the same technique, but with an “appetite suppressant” capsule, whoever wants to buy it gets her own “discount code.” A few months ago, she said that she lost 3 kilograms in 3 days by eating only apples.
French nutrition expert and founder of the Obesity Observatory, Pierre Azzam, says that these diets are cruel and aim to attract attention, and he points out that algorithms complement this already harmful system, as they distract Internet users “between one diet and another.”
He points out that “people, especially young people who want to lose weight, find themselves stuck in a dilemma of information that is sometimes contradictory or combined.”
Overnight intermittent fasting, which requires abstaining from eating for 16 hours between dinner and the first meal the next day, “can be interesting, but it is not suitable for everyone,” according to nutritionist Arnaud Koukol.
“We can’t copy the same typical diet for people who are overweight due to stress, or who are taking medications,” he says.
95% of diets fail
Kokol receives patients daily who are “overweight and have adopted diets,” and he points out that “95% of diets fail within the five years following their adoption,” according to a study conducted by French health authorities, as “people regain all the weight they lost.”
“Most diets are based on prevention and frustration, and the body hates being subjected to cruelty,” Kukul says. The nutrition expert prefers the American “Weight Watchers” program, which is based on restoring nutritional balance rather than preventing a person from certain foods.
Azzam warns against the “deadly” advice given by some Internet users, as it focuses solely on losing weight “quickly and easily, without effort, in a reflection of consumer society, and outside of any public health concerns.”
He says, “Our body is alive and full of proteins, and if we treat it too hard, we risk losing muscle mass, and the damage will subsequently affect the formation of organs, in addition to facing hormonal disorders, problems in the digestive system, and long-term diseases.”
Azzam is concerned about the impact of these video clips on those who are easily influenced, as they may cause them to have “tendencies toward anorexia, bulimia nervosa, or eating disorders.”
He stresses the necessity of consulting a therapist or specialist if suffering from weight gain. But more importantly, “better nutritional education begins in the first thousand days of a person’s life or even in the womb,” according to the two doctors.