Your body needs vitamins - nutrients found in most foods - for many reasons, including the production of red blood cells. If your body lacks certain key vitamins, you can develop a type of anemia - a condition in which your blood is low on red blood cells - called vitamin deficiency anemia.

Red blood cells carry oxygen from your lungs to all parts of your body. Without enough healthy red blood cells, your body can't get the oxygen it needs to feel in top shape. To produce red blood cells, your body needs iron and certain vitamins along with adequate protein and calorie intake, that's where dieting comes in. By restricting access to food, and especially to certain types of food, dieting can put your overall health at risk.

Vitamin deficiency anemia can also lead to other health problems. Fortunately, you can usually correct vitamin deficiency anemia with supplements and dietary changes. This is one of the most important things you have to keep in mind: the body has to be nourished with all the vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats and sugars it needs to be able to function correctly. Any diet that does not account for the minimum healthy food intake is probably dangerous for your body.

About the 3 Day Diet, there is not really much to tell except the old adage "Don't try this at home!"

Version one of the 3 Day Diet promotes drinking four glasses of water or diet soda during the day. An extensive menu lists meals and snacks to eat for all three days so you can achieve the maximum diet results. It actually lets you eat food all three days, including fruits, vegetables and carbohydrates.

But there are two problems with this version of the diet:

- Too few calories per day - around 500, which is way too little for an active person

- Not enough vitamins and minerals, which means you will have to try the bottled stuff - is there any health benefit to a diet that doesn't help you achieve a healthier life?

Version two of the 3 Day Diet begins with a day of fasting. Fasting = no food, only water. Day two you can eat fruit and drink fruit juice only. On day three, you can only eat vegetables and drink vegetable juice. This version of the 3 Day Diet claims you can lose ten pounds in three days if the three-day menu is strictly followed. The rest of the week is spent eating lightly, but "normally." After seven days are up, start the routine again!

Will you lose weight with this diet? Sure you will! Who wouldn't when subjected to near starvation?? Would it be for good? Probably not, as the body will try hard to rebuild the fat reserves after you exit the starvation mode.

Keep in mind that:

1. "Yo-yo" dieting (repetitive cycles of gaining, losing, & regaining weight) has been shown to have negative health effects, including increased risk of heart disease, long-lasting negative impacts on metabolism, etc.

2. Dieting forces your body into starvation mode. It responds by slowing down many of its normal functions to conserve energy. This means your natural metabolism actually slows down and you lose less weight than you would if you'd just walk for an extra half hour a day.