Dangers lurk with 12 days of body cleansing.

Ms. Le Thi Hai, Director of the Center for Nutritional Examination and Counseling at the National Institute of Nutrition, warned that adults who consume less than 800kcal/day should be monitored in a hospital. Fasting for 12 consecutive days is tantamount to starving oneself and is a death sentence.

Losing weight quickly and drastically is tantamount to starving yourself.

The death of an 18-year-old girl after a 12-day body cleansing diet serves as a warning sign for the booming trend of such diets. However, many women on various forums are still sharing and defending this dieting method. Meanwhile, nutrition and digestive experts assert that there is currently no scientific evidence to support the claim that fasting for 12 days helps cleanse the body, and from a nutritional standpoint, this method is unscientific and dangerous to human health and life.

Ms. Le Thi Hai, Director of the Center for Nutritional Examination and Counseling at the National Institute of Nutrition, warns that prolonged fasting with the goal of rapid, sudden weight loss is tantamount to starving oneself. This nutrition expert stated that the method of fasting for 12 consecutive days to cleanse the body is unscientific because the body always needs a certain balance between energy intake and energy expenditure. Although women following this method still consume a certain amount of sugar daily, that amount is still insufficient to meet the body's energy needs for digestion, easily leading to fainting and hypoglycemia. Fasting can even lead to death, especially for those with a history of liver disease, low blood pressure, diabetes, and those over 40 years old.

Women are currently embracing the 12-day body cleansing trend.

Deaths due to anorexia are not uncommon. Many cases of death resulting from extreme dieting have been recorded worldwide. Some specific examples include:

Anna Carolina Reston was once one of the most successful models in Brazil. She was hailed as the glamorous muse for advertising campaigns by Dior and Armani. However, Anna died from complete kidney failure and severe physical debilitation due to a long period of eating only apples and tomatoes. She was 1.72 meters tall but weighed only 39 kilograms, with a BMI of 13.5 (the normal BMI is 18.5).

* In February 2006, Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos collapsed and died on the runway during Montevideo Fashion Week. She suffered a heart attack after dieting on lettuce and sugary drinks for over three months to lose weight. Luisel's father revealed to investigators that his daughter had been on a hunger strike for days before the fashion show. Tragically, just six months later, in February 2007, Luisel's younger sister, Eliena, also died from a heart attack resulting from an excessively harsh diet.

Jeremy Gillitzer was once a handsome model with six-pack abs and toned biceps. But he passed his prime and battled anorexia for most of his adult life. Although anorexia is more common in women and only affects men in about 1 in 10 cases, Jeremy spent 25 years training to overcome this lack of appetite. He passed away in 2010 at the age of 38, weighing only 66 pounds (approximately 30 kg).

"For adults on a diet, consuming less than 800kcal/day requires hospital monitoring. However, this method, where the patient eats nothing but lemon water at home, is extremely dangerous, even life-threatening, and can lead to death, as in the case that just occurred at Thanh Nhan Hospital if not treated promptly. The patient died at the young age of 18, a crucial stage of development where the body needs energy, but the patient fasted continuously for many days, leading to this tragic outcome," said Master Hai.

Associate Professor Dr. Tu Ngu, Vice President of the Vietnam Nutrition Association, also affirmed that fasting for 12 consecutive days to detoxify the body has no scientific basis and, on the contrary, can be harmful to health.

According to him, humans can hold their breath for a few minutes, go without water for a few hours, and fast for a few days. But fasting for 12 days using this method will certainly be dangerous to health, especially for people with low blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease... or those with weak constitutions.

A health check-up is necessary before starting any weight loss program.

Ms. Hai emphasized that anyone wishing to lose weight and follow even a scientifically-proven diet should undergo a comprehensive health check to determine if they have any underlying medical conditions. This is because even a scientifically-proven diet cannot be applied universally to everyone; what works for one person may harm another, especially those with pre-existing medical conditions. Therefore, anyone considering a weight-loss diet must undergo a comprehensive health check and follow a scientifically-proven diet plan as advised by nutrition experts.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thi Lam, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Nutrition, stated that effective weight loss requires balancing calorie intake with calorie expenditure, rather than completely starving oneself and eliminating calorie intake.

Associate Professor Dr. Lam advises that women who want to lose weight should still eat three full meals a day with a balanced nutritional ratio (less rice, less oil and fat, more green vegetables). They can also eat snacks between main meals with low-calorie foods such as taro, sweet potatoes, watermelon, etc. The reason for eating snacks is to prevent the body from becoming too hungry; when excessively hungry, the survival instinct will kick in, urging you to eat more.

"Many women who come to us for consultation often wonder why they eat very little at main meals, or even skip rice entirely or fast for many meals, yet still gain weight. Upon further questioning, we learned that many women skip main meals but have a habit of 'snacking' on biscuits, rice cakes, sweet soups, fried cakes, etc. This snacking habit is what causes them to still gain weight, because these foods, although they don't provide a feeling of fullness, contain a lot of energy," Associate Professor Dr. Lam shared.

This nutritionist also emphasized that, if women want to lose weight, one factor they cannot ignore is exercise.

"You can't lose weight if you're lazy and don't exercise. Women should make daily exercise a habit; for those who are too busy, just walking regularly for 30 minutes a day is enough. Or, if you don't have time to exercise, you should stay active by walking up and down the stairs at home or diligently doing housework. In addition, chewing thoroughly while eating is also very important, because it takes 20 minutes for the feeling of fullness to reach the brain. Women need to eat slowly so that the body will receive the 'full stomach' signal sooner and stop eating," Associate Professor Dr. Lam shared.

According to Gia Dinh.net