Water diet the ‘most dangerous weight loss regime ever’

AS desperate dieters go to ­extreme lengths to shed the Christmas kilos and slim down for summer, experts have taken aim at a deadly new diet that bans everything but water, tea and coffee.

AS desperate dieters go to ­extreme lengths to shed the Christmas kilos and slim down for summer, experts have taken aim at a deadly new diet that bans everything but water, tea and coffee.

With the so-called #waterfast diet becoming a potentially fatal fad via social media, body image and eating disorder advocate Mia Findlay warned “starving” your body was the “most dangerous” way to lose weight.

“There are a lot of people who do reviews on these so-called diets, and they say they felt so clear-headed, and they felt like they were reaching this state of nirvana, and the reason that is happening is because their bodies are going into starvation mode,” Ms Findlay said.

Water fasting has become popular on social media with thousands of people using the hashtag #waterfast to document their progress and encourage others to take part.

“I think people do try to dress it up as it’s mentally beneficial and it’s spiritually beneficial when we all know the real purpose of it is to lose weight very, very quickly and in the most dangerous possible way,” she said.

Meanwhile, eating disorder expert Joanne Labiner said “water fasting” pushed the body to an anorexia-like state, risking organ damage and death.

“It can be so bad for your organs, that’s why people with anorexia can die of a heart attack — their body feeds on their heart,” she said. “Our body thinks it’s an emergency and tries to prevent that fat storage from being used up and it feeds on the muscle.”

Not everyone is against it... On Instagram, @kris_the_cat, has supported the regime.

But social media users ­talked up their calorie-free efforts. Twitter users said it left their skin looking “amazing” and that they enjoyed “the best sleep of my life” since they had been on the diet. On Instagram, @kris_the_cat said the fast had left her “very calm, centred and present”.

And a dieter who boasted of being on day nine of a 21-day fast of the #waterfast said it was “going very well. Amazing results”.

Others were keen to recruit, with a dieter posting an invitation to “go through this pleasurable pain and suffering with me”.