The latest trend sweeping the diet world is the “feeding tube” diet. Women, even brides-to-be, go on this diet to lose immediate weight. Dubbed the K-E diet, standing for Ketogenic Enternal Nutrition Diet, women on this diet are fed thru a nasogastric tube inserted thru their nose down to their stomach. The tube feeds the stomach a mixture containing protein, fat, and water, adding up to only 800 calories a day.
Originating in Italy in a procedure designed by Gianfranco Coppello at the University of Rome, the feeding tube diet allows users to lose 20 pounds in ten days without surgical intervention. Available in Europe for years, a Florida-based doctor, Dr Oliver Di Pietro, began performing the procedure in the United States last year. Its’ popularity has sky rocketed.
Less invasive than liposuction or gastric bypass surgery, there are reports that some women are using the diet to drop 10 or 15 pounds just like going on Weight Watchers, doing juice cleanses, taking diet pills or even getting hormone shots.
But seriously, using a feeding tube that is designed to nourish patients that cannot feed themselves is going a bit to the extreme in order to lose weight. What risks are we willing to take in the name of beauty? How far will we go to become thin?
Although doctors performing the procedure claim it is perfectly safe, there can be side effects such as infection and irritation. 800 calories a day is far below the standard recommended weight-loss diets of 1000 calories a day. There is no telling if this diet is doing long term damage to the organs or other parts of the body. Weight loss works when one changes the behavior and lifestyle choices that led to the weight gain in the first place. This diet does not change eating behavior so most likely the weight will be gained back.
This diet goes way beyond a new hairstyle, makeup or even wearing nice clothes. It takes unnecessary risks with our bodies. The idea of using a medical tool for vanity seems almost fanatical. Perhaps our society needs to examine our definition of “beauty” and the extremes people are willing to go in order to achieve it.
– Linda Ingham
As a mother of five, licensed attorney and fitness nut, Linda Ingham enjoys writing about many subjects, including law, gardening, health and fitness, child rearing and travel. Check out her articles at www.pathacross.com