It seems simple — eat less, lose weight.

But crash dieting can seriously hurt the chance of dropping a few pounds, said Samantha Schaefer, a registered dietitian with Bloomington Hospital.

When someone significantly decreases their caloric intake, the body goes into “starvation mode,” Schaefer said. The body slows the metabolism drastically to preserve the calories it has, to use that energy for keeping the necessary processes going and the organs alive. The effect increases the more intake decreases and the longer the diet continues.

Another concern is if the person will still get all the necessary nutrients, which is less likely if the dieter is cutting an entire food group, without finding a replacement for the lost nutrients, such as a different protein source for vegetarians.

Some people also use diuretics and laxatives to speed the process, Schaefer said, which can lead to dehydration and depleted electrolytes. Because electrolytes affect muscle contractions, diminished levels can cause heart problems.

“I think people just take the cutting the calories or dieting to an extreme,” she said. “You want to have a fine balance.”

Nancy Stockton, director of Counseling and Psychological Services with the Indiana U. Health Center, said crash dieting is more common when there is a self-imposed deadline — someone wants to lose a certain amount of weight by a certain time, such as a wedding, graduation, reunion or spring break — and drastically reducing calorie intake seems like a “quick” solution.

“I think all of us want an easy solution for some difficult problems,” Stockton said.

There are certain trends in crash dieters, Stockton said. It’s more prevalent in young adults, though education doesn’t seem to be a factor. While it is more prevalent in women than men, the gap appears to be shrinking.

“There’s been more pressure on women to have a particular body shape and size,” Stockton said.

“Men are increasingly coming under such pressure,” Stock said.

Catherine Loria, a nutritional epidemiologist with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, said there are very few studies on crash dieting because of ethical concerns. Scientists cannot ask their subjects to do something they know will be harmful.

Though not everyone who crash diets forms an eating disorder, Stockton said some kind of diet plays a role in the development of almost every case of anorexia nervosa or bulimia.

“The diet mentality is really thinking that you need to turn your whole world upside-down,” Schaefer said.

Loria encouraged minute exercise changes, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or parking the car further from the building, so the walk is longer.

Schaefer encourages a happy medium.

“When we can’t have something, we automatically want it more,” she said. “It leads to overdoing when we do have it.”

Stockton said it is human nature to fixate on something we can’t have, especially if the restriction is self-imposed. Cutting out your favorite food will only increase the craving for it and can also make someone feel like they’ve failed when they do give in.

“Allow for some wiggle room, allow for that treat,” she said.

Schaefer recommends reducing portions slightly and maintaining a balanced diet with variety that provides all the necessary vitamins and minerals.

While low-fat and reduced sugar options are good — as long as the person is satisfied by the taste and doesn’t eat larger quantities than they would the regular food — Schaefer said it’s fine to have full-fat foods occasionally.

Schaefer said the important thing is to make healthy decisions the majority of the time.

“Choose a diet that you can sustain,” Stockton said, emphasizing that changes should be gradual.

“Don’t think, ‘I’m going on a diet,’” she said. “Think, ‘I’m going to eat the way healthy people eat.’”