Every person who is obese or has at least 4-5 extra pounds dreams of an effective weight loss diet. It seems simple, affordable and effective: you can eat anything, in any quantity, and at the same time the weight melts away quickly. Too bad it's just a dream. According to experts, rapid weight loss is dangerous to health, especially when losing 10-15 kg or more in a short period of time. This can lead to serious problems in metabolism, hormones and internal organs. Of course, there are a number of diets that are balanced, low-calorie, and high-nutrient, but they result in gradual weight loss. Let's try to figure out how good nutrition differs from dangerous and which one is most effective.
Rapid weight loss on a diet: why is it dangerous?
Of course, significant weight loss in a short period of time is the most awaited result for any overweight person. But doctors never tire of repeating that rapid weight loss can seriously harm both physical health and psyche.
On the one hand, the lost kilograms can be gained again after the end of the weight loss program. It can also make the weight even heavier than it originally was. It is believed that the optimal rate of weight loss is no more than 1. 5-2 kg per week. So to lose 10 kg you need at least 5-7 weeks or even more.
Second, rapid weight loss is usually achieved through strict calorie restriction, fasting, or a combination of both with grueling exercise. However, 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, body weight comes back and you need to lose weight again.
So, in order to achieve real success, you need to change your entire lifestyle, eating style and activity, and create conditions for constant calorie consumption and lower intake from food.
An Effective Weight Loss Diet: Does It Exist?
When we talk about whether there is a universal and effective weight loss diet 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, as well as pathologies of internal organs. For example, weight gain is typical of type 2 diabetes, Cushing's disease or hypothyroidism, Pickwick's syndrome, a pancreatic tumor (insulinoma), and many others.
Accordingly, for relatively healthy people, almost any balanced diet that somewhat limits the calorie content of the diet, but provides the body with all the necessary nutrients, is suitable. If you add regular exercise to this, expand your daily activities - the weight will gradually disappear. However, patients with severe diseases require a special therapeutic diet that takes into account the specifics 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 in 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 differently, which is related to evolutionary mechanisms. Therefore, good nutrition, which is ideal for men, cannot work at all and cannot reduce a woman's body weight. But why is it like that?
Men, as was done in ancient times, must hunt to support their families. As such, they need strength, endurance, and muscle mass to run, tow mammoths, and escape from predators. Although times have changed today, the characteristics of the male body's metabolism have remained the same. Therefore, they lose weight faster and easier when they reduce the calorie content of food and exercise. The male body burns fat faster than the female body and builds muscle mass. Testosterone helps with this. Because testosterone levels decline with age, men also gain weight faster and lose less.
Men need more calories, more protein and fat, they are consumed faster. But you can eat less sugar, there is quick energy, but it is not enough, and it will not be enough for active muscle work in the long run, it is better to give preference to complex carbohydrates from grains.
"Women" diet
The main purpose of a woman, from a biological and evolutionary point of view, is the successful birth and birth of children. In order for the fetus to actively develop, you need a lot of energy and nutrients. Therefore, the female body stores fat first in the hips, partly in the waist and chest, back and arms. In addition to the costs during pregnancy, energy costs during breastfeeding are just as important. Therefore, all women gain extra fat during pregnancy. This is an emergency supply for the duration of the lactation in case the feed is insufficient.
Due to these properties, women need less protein - their muscle mass is less, but the beautiful half of humanity has an "evolutionary" craving for sweet foods. You can easily and quickly get a lot of energy from carbohydrates, which can be stored in the form of subcutaneous fat. TheTotal caloric content of the female diet is less. Evolutionarily, women were engaged in gathering and housework, their bodies did not need as much muscle as men. A woman's diet should contain saturated fats, some protein and complex carbohydrates. When light carbohydrates predominate, the thrifty body becomesimmediately turn excess energy into a reserve form - fats on problem areas.
Trending diets: good or bad?
Any diet, no matter how good it is, has its pros and cons, contraindications for use. For example, the now popular keto diet can cause psoriatic rashes, according to researchers from Austria. Scientists have found that keto diets, which contain medium-chain triglycerides along with omega-3 fatty acids from nuts, seeds, and fish oil, may indicate flare-ups of psoriasis. A study titled "The Effect of Ketogenic Diets on Psoriasis-Like Skin Inflammation" was published in August 2019 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. Therefore, people with a hereditary predisposition to the disease should refrain from trying to lose weight on this now-popular diet.