The 'Wedding Diet' ... things just keep getting crazier

There is something out there so outrageous and over the top that I can't even believe I feel compelled to write about it! Since it was featured in a recent New York Times article, the K-E Diet (short for Ketogenic Enteral Nutrition) has been a source of talk, controversy and curiosity. Do people, and brides, actually do this? And to lose weight? And not because they are sick and actually NEED a feeding tube?

This so called "Wedding Diet" is the latest example of how common sense is absolutely thrown out the window in the pursuit of quick weight loss. This is what happens to these desperate Brides-to-be. A plastic or rubber tube is inserted through the nose and through the esophagus and into the stomach. This is common for folks who are sick and are not able to eat. According to a recent Huffington Post article, "The K-E diet, by contrast, is its first known weight loss application in the United States."

While this process has been described as "unique,” I can only think of words like gross, ridiculous, disturbing and sad. How about dangerous, futile and unhealthy?

The HuffPo article said:

"So far, the diet is offered exclusively at a Florida clinic run by Dr. Oliver R. Di Pietro, its creator and an internal medicine specialist. A brochure promises that, over 10 days, the diet can lead to about 20 pounds of weight loss -- or about 10 percent of a patient’s total weight.  

"A patient is intubated with the feeding device and given a 10-day supply of a powdered food supplement (to be mixed with water), made entirely of protein and fat and amounting to 800 calories per day. Patients may drink water, unsweetened tea and black coffee during their treatment, but nothing else can pass their lips. They carry the solution in a tote bag at all times, where it provides a steady 24-hour drip of nutritional supplementation."

AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS THIS IS JUST INSANE AND IRRESPONSIBLE FOR A DOCTOR TO PRESCRIBE SUCH A METHOD?
  
What about side effects? These sound like just the things a bride-to-be would like to be experiencing as she gets ready for her big day: bad breath and constipation, kidney problems, headaches, weakness, dehydration and fatigue. What about walking around for 10 days looking like this?

I'm not sure about you, but I had a few parties before my wedding. Did these gals put this thing up their nose 10 days before their wedding? Do you really want to have this thing stuck up your nose while you go to your lunches, showers, brunches all dressed up in that cute outfit you spent weeks shopping for? This is what you want to look like in your wedding party photos?  That poor fiancé'.  I'm thinking he didn't bargain for this!

On the health side, this scheme, like any quick weight loss scheme -- whether via tube, straw or fork -- is a short-term solution. It will result in dropped pounds, but those come from lost water and muscle mass, rather than fat. The trouble with weight loss of this type is that it returns as soon as the diet ends -- and, it is more likely to return as fat, rather than muscle. Furthermore, it does not fix or even address the factors leading to the weight gain or weight loss and a healthy lifestyle. Those issues and habits will still be around after the wedding dress comes off. 

Feel free to tell me I'm wrong on this. Are there any diets out there crazier than this one?

Do you think I'm being too hard? Did you crash diet before your wedding?

Did you think that time before getting married was the best or worst time? I loved it! 

Fitness instructor and self-professed “fitness nerd” Marla-Deen Brooks is a wife, mother of three boys, three dogs and a leopard gecko. See more from her at Marla-Deen-Fit.net.