J. Lo’s 10-Day Challenge Can Be Harmful For These Reasons

On Jan. 24, Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez challenged TODAY co-host Hoda Kotb to not eat carbs and sugar for 10 days. I spoke to Bustle about the dangers of sudden dietary shifts in in this piece:

“Sudden dietary shifts are, simply put, hard to manage,” Maya Feller, MS, RD, CDN of Maya Feller Nutrition tells Bustle. “When a person is in the habit of eating a certain way, they need time to plan and come up with ideas of how to be successful on the new plan.”

Eating anything in moderation isn’t just OK; it’s also just plain good for you. Challenges like these can be especially triggering to people who live with or are in recovery from eating disorders, Feller says, but can be tough on anyone’s relationship to food. “After the challenge is over, this restriction may lead to desires to binge-eat the forbidden foods, causing unnecessary guilt associated with eating,” Faraj says.