25-Year-Old Woman Hospitalized With Severe Pancreatitis After Extreme Dieting

Beijing. A 25-year-old woman has fallen seriously ill due to adopting an extremely strict and unhealthy dieting style to lose weight in China. 

The woman developed acute pancreatitis due to eating very little for 6 days and then eating excessively all at once on the seventh day. According to doctors, this harmful eating habit became the main and only cause of the disease. 

Qingqing (changed name), a resident of Hangzhou city in China's eastern Zhejiang province, had devised a unique trick to lose weight over the past few months. She would consume very little for 6 days a week, about 800 calories daily.  

Her 6-day diet consisted only of boiled vegetables, chicken breast, and low-sugar fruits. However, she observed the seventh day as an 'indulgence day'. On this day, she would eat high-fat and excessively oily foods like fried chicken, hotpot, spicy instant noodles, milk tea, and nuts all at once. 

Before adopting this strict method, her weight was 55 kg. After adopting this style, her weight dropped to 47.5 kg in just one month. Although she was happy with the weight loss, her health suddenly deteriorated after a similar 'free eating day' celebrated on May 14. 

She experienced severe pain in her stomach, waist, and back, along with continuous vomiting. As the condition became serious, she was immediately taken to the hospital. After detailed examination at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, doctors confirmed she had acute pancreatitis. 

According to doctors, prolonged dieting or fasting causes the body's pancreas to remain in a 'low load standby' or dormant state, and the digestive system slows down. In such a situation, consuming excessively oily and fatty food all at once causes the organ to secrete a large amount of digestive enzymes in a short period. These suddenly released enzymes spread and ultimately destroy the pancreas organ itself. 

Hospital specialists have warned that the number of young patients suffering from such extreme dieting and binge-eating styles is alarmingly increasing in recent years. Doctors have pointed out that this kind of fatal slimming method can lead to many other health problems. Qingqing, who fell ill in China due to a blind attempt to lose weight, is not the first person. Many incidents of serious health crises due to unscientific attempts to lose weight have been reported from various parts of China before.