Every person who is obese, or who has at least 4-5 extra kilos, dreams of an effective diet to lose weight. It seems simple, affordable and effective: you can eat everything, in any quantity, and at the same time the weight will quickly melt away. Too bad it's just a dream. According to experts, rapid weight loss is dangerous to health, especially if you lose 10-15 kg or more in a short time. This can lead to serious problems with your metabolism, hormones, and internal organs. Of course, there are a number of diets that are balanced, low in calories and adequate in nutrients, but lead to gradual weight loss. Let's try to figure out how a good diet differs from a dangerous one and which ones are the most effective.
Rapid weight loss on a diet: why is it dangerous?
Naturally, significant weight loss in a short time is the most expected result for any overweight person. But doctors never tire of repeating that rapid weight loss can seriously harm both physical and mental health.
First of all, the kilograms lost after finishing the weight loss program can be regained again. Also, as a result, the weight can become even higher than it was originally. The optimal rate of weight loss is believed to be no more than 1. 5-2 kg per week. Therefore, to lose 10 kg, you need at least 5-7 weeks, or even more.
Second, rapid weight loss is usually achieved through severe calorie restriction, fasting, or a combination of both with grueling workouts. But these life changes are not permanent, and after reaching the "ideal" weight, the person returns to their usual eating and activity habits. As a result, the body weight returns and you need to lose weight again.
Therefore, in order to achieve real success, you need to change your entire lifestyle, eating style and activity, creating conditions for a constant expenditure of calories and less food intake.
An effective diet to lose weight: does it exist?
If we talk about whether there is a universal and effective diet to lose weight that helps everyone, the answer is no. The reasons for weight gain can be various factors, ranging from banal overeating, inactivity and laziness, to serious endocrine disorders and neurological diseases, pathologies of internal organs. For example, weight gain is typical of type 2 diabetes, Cushing's disease or hypothyroidism, Pickwickian syndrome, a pancreatic tumor (insulinoma), and many others.
Consequently, for relatively healthy people, almost any balanced diet is suitable, somewhat limiting the caloric content of the diet, while providing the body with all the necessary nutrients. If you add regular training to this, expand your daily activities - the weight will gradually disappear. But for patients with serious illnesses, a special therapeutic diet is needed, taking into account the peculiarities of metabolic changes, as well as parallel treatment of the underlying disease: removal of the tumor, correction of hormonal levels, hypoglycemic drugs or insulin injections for diabetes. .
Good nutrition: characteristics in men.
In addition to health status, gender differences also play a role in weight gain and loss. In men and women, the body stores and metabolizes (breaks down) body fat in different ways, which is associated with evolutionary mechanisms. Therefore, a good diet that is ideal for men may not work at all and may not reduce a woman's body weight. But why is that?
Men, as in ancient times, must hunt to provide food for their family. Therefore, they need strength, endurance and muscle mass to be able to run, drag mammoths and escape predators. Although times have changed nowadays, the characteristics of the metabolism of the male body have remained the same. Therefore, they lose weight faster and easier if they reduce the caloric content of their food and exercise. The male body burns fat faster than the female body and builds muscle mass. Testosterone helps with this. As testosterone levels decline with age, men also gain weight faster and lose it worse.
Men need more calories, more protein and fat, they are consumed faster. But they can eat less sugar, it provides quick energy, but it is not enough and will not be enough for long-term active muscle work, it is better to give preference to complex carbohydrates from cereals.
"Women's" diet
The main purpose of a woman, from the point of view of biology and evolution, is to have and successfully give birth to children. In order for the fetus to develop actively, she needs a lot of energy and nutrients. Therefore, the female body initially stores fat in the hips, partly in the waist and chest, back and arms. In addition to costs during pregnancy, energy costs during lactation are equally important. Therefore, all women gain extra fat during pregnancy. This is an emergency supply for the duration of breastfeeding, if food is not enough.
Due to these characteristics, women need less protein: their muscle mass is less, but the beautiful half of humanity has an "evolutionary" desire for sweet foods. It is from carbohydrates that you can easily and quickly get a lot of energy that can be stored in the form of subcutaneous fat. The total caloric content of the female diet is lower. Evolutionarily, the woman was dedicated to the collection and housework, her body did not need as much muscle as the man's. A woman's diet should include saturated fat, some protein, and complex carbohydrates. If light carbohydrates prevail, the thrifty body will immediately transfer excess energy to a reserve form - fats in problem areas.
Fad diets: good or bad?
Each diet, however good it may be, has both its pros and cons, contraindications for use. So, for example, the ketogenic diet that is popular today, according to researchers in Austria, can lead to psoriatic rashes. Scientists have noted that ketogenic diets that include medium-chain triglycerides, along with omega-3 fatty acids derived from nuts, seeds, and fish oil, can predict psoriasis flare-ups. A study titled "The Effect of Ketogenic Diets on Psoriasis-Like Skin Inflammation" was published in August 2019 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. Thus, people with hereditary predisposition to this disease should avoid losing weight with this diet that is fashionable today.