Weight Loss In A Healthy Way By Sports And Cooking

Losing weight is a laudable goal for over half the population of this country. Unfortunately, far too many people want to take shortcuts to weight loss rather than make the necessary adjustments to their diets and lifestyles. One of the most abused shortcuts is using laxatives to lose weight. The benefit of this method is purely a myth.

Laxatives do not work on the foods one consumes. They stimulate the bowel, often causing painful cramps and a feeling that one must get to the toilet right away. Matter is often expelled under force because of these cramps. Sadly, most of this matter is actually water. One may seem lose two or three pounds using laxatives, but as soon as their use is stopped, the weight is put back on as we rehydrate our bodies.

Excessive use of laxatives can lead to some serious health problems of its own. One can end up unable to have a normal bowel movement without taking a laxative. The force of cramps expelling waste from the rectum can result in tears that bleed and have an extremely high risk of becoming infected as more waste moves into the area and gets into the tears. One can become seriously dehydrated and weak, unable to function in a normal manner.

There have been many who claim that using laxatives will hasten weight loss and make it possible to maintain a lower weight. These people are either misinformed or outright liars. In actuality, the use of laxatives as a means of weight loss is a form of eating disorder along the same lines as bulimia. The biggest difference is that bulimics use purgatives to make them vomit up the food they eat and force any that stays down out of the system by a laxative action while the use of laxatives is slightly milder and does not usually involve vomiting.

There are times, however, when a laxative used over too long a period of time can cause a person to feel nauseated and induce vomiting. Sadly, medical intervention will probably be necessary to wean a person off of laxatives once they start abusing them in this fashion.

Some people may claim that using laxatives is a good route to rapid weight loss. These people are perpetuating a myth that can actually harm the health of anyone who subscribes to the idea that abusing laxatives, or any other medication, is a good idea for reaching a goal.