It is recommended by health professionals to lose a maximum of 2 pounds of weight per week and eating too much or too little of food can cause health problems. Losing more than 2 pounds per week can pose dangers such as irregular heartbeat, electrolyte changes, and muscle loss. When losing weight, the goal is to lose fat and build muscle. Muscle is necessary to help burn calories and most fad diets don't involve exercise that builds muscle. The weight lost on fad diets may be muscle rather than fat, and although losing muscle means you lose a few pounds, it does not benefit the individual. Muscle helps burn calories, and losing muscle mass through fad diets can make it more difficult for a person to maintain their weight in the future. Nutritional deficiencies will take a toll on an individual's body. The natural vitamins, nutrients and minerals provided by a well-balanced diet are important for bodily functions. Lack of proper supplements for the body leads to malnutrition and can manifest as hair loss and brittle nails. There are some bizarre and extremely dangerous fad diets practiced decades ago that have proven to be useless, but somehow individuals continue to follow them to lose weight. The tapeworm diet is one of those unusual diets. This is where a tapeworm is placed inside a person to allow for maximum food consumption without getting bigger, as the tapeworm will take care of any excess calories.