Brides Resort To Extreme Measures To Lose Weight

Connie K. Ho for RedOrbit.com

A new trend, the Ketogenic Enteral Nutrition (KE) diet, has been taking the bridal world by storm. Women from all over the global who are interested in losing weight in a short amount of time are turning to this quick weight loss style. It´s proven effective in results, but is also controversial in method. Apart from medical treatments, brides to be are looking at other pricey ways they can slim down in time for their big day.

The tube diet had previously been seen in areas like the United Kingdom and Europe, a final resort for women who wanted to lose weight quickly. Describing the KE diet to ABC News, Dr. Oliver Di Pietro of Bay Harbor Islands, Florida, explained how patients are “fed a constant slow drip of protein and fat, mixed with water, which contains zero carbohydrates and totals 800 calories a day. Body fat is burned off through a process called ketosis, which leaves muscle intact.”

“It is a hunger-free, effective way of dieting,” remarked Di Pietro in the interview with ABC News. “Within a few hours and your hunger and appetite go away completely, so patients are actually not hungry at all for the whole 10 days. That’s what is so amazing about this diet.”

Jessica Schnaider of Surfside, Florida, underwent the treatment in March before her wedding. She felt it would help her save time and decided to try it out. During her ten day treatment, she didn´t feel hungry but admitted to having to adjust emotionally to the procedure.

“I was tired. I didn’t feel like exercising. The doctor told me that if you can compliment with walking for a half an hour on the beach, that would be great, but I didn’t feel like doing that. I’m a very energetic person, but those days I was a little tired,” said Schnaider in an interview with ABC News.

Besides these various weight loss formulas, some brides are purchasing special training packages with fitness trainers who specialize in helping them lose weight right before the wedding.

“I´ve been training brides for 12 to 13 years, and the typical weight loss is 15 to 20 pounds,” commented Sue Fleming, the author of Buff Brides who charges $140 to $200 a session, in an article by the New York Times.

Some in the medical profession question fad diets and recommend that patients take extra precaution.

In an interview with the New York Times, Dr. Scott Shikora, the director of the Center for Metabolic Health and Bariatric Surgery at Brigham and Women´s Hospital in Boston, stated that “Putting a tube in one´s nose, it´s not always comfortable and pleasant. And this has to be medically supervised.”

Others are skeptical about products, like BluePrintCleanse organic drinks, that promise to cleanse the body of toxins like a laxative.

“Do you notice they never tell you what the toxins actually are?” piqued Dr. David Gorski, an associate professor of surgery at Wayne State University in Detroit, in a New York Times article. “There´s no science to back them up.”

Medical professionals also question the role that pop culture has on consumers, with many celebrities starting and popularizing the various weight loss methods.

“Celebrities are not known for doing things that are necessarily the healthiest or most sensible in many parts of their lives,” explained Dr. Louis Aronne, the director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Program at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, in the New York Times. “Nutrition should probably be included in that.”

Psychoanalyst Bethany Marshall of Beverly Hills, California commented on the need to be aware of not only physical side effects but also the mental side effects of this quick fix weight loss technique.

“If you lose the weight too quickly your mind is not going to be able to catch up with a newer, skinnier you,” noted Marshall of Beverly Hills, California, in a report by ABC News.