Diet: what it is, types and most popular methods to lose weight

Nutrition must be adapted to the person's health status. Various diseases affect the biological processes of the body, so it is necessary to change the need for nutrients. To achieve these changes, diet programs are used. Diet is an integral part of therapeutic nutrition prescribed by a doctor and affects the course of the disease, recovery, elimination of obesity and excess body weight.

diet food

Diet: what is it (therapeutic diets, weight loss diets)?

"Diet (from the Greek diaita, Δίαιτα) is the controlled consumption of food and liquids, aimed at achieving a specific goal. The term "diet" can be used in several different ways: hospital (official) diets, programs to lose weight, maintain or changing health, long-term dietary systems (supported by a lifestyle or philosophy). "This is how the wiki describes the diet (Wikipedia. org).

Principles of dietary nutrition:

  • use of high quality raw materials;
  • reduction of heat treatment of products;
  • reduce the consumption of hot spices;
  • increase the consumption of vegetables (dill, parsley, lemon instead of vinegar);
  • depending on the disease - increase/decrease in certain nutrients;
  • regular meals (5 times a day, for diabetes - 6 times a day);
  • emphasis on the taste of food: increased appetite in patients.

Diet is a broad concept. The dietary program as such does not imply hunger or sudden changes leading to a deterioration in the condition.

types of diets

The goal of changing your diet may be to lose weight; Several nutritional programs focus on weight loss. This term refers to the circuits best known to the public. The next reason for observing dietary restrictions is the presence of diseases. These programs are prescribed by doctors; It is not recommended to follow them independently, without making a diagnosis (especially by a sick person). Other dietary goals are more specific. They include improving the quality of hair, nails and skin. There are also diets to develop and strengthen muscle mass, food schemes to improve immunity in general, etc.

Diets are associated with detoxification of the body. This is also a dietary change, a restriction, but short-lived.

Medical diets (tables)

In the presence of a disease, it is important to ensure not only the technological preparation of the diet, but also professional contact with the patient. Even in the context of dietary changes, a person should be able to choose foods in consultation with a nutritionist.

What is a diet in medical terms? Today, the classification of dietary programs (tables) usually looks like this:

  1. NPO (N) - hunger strike.
  2. 0S - tea room. Tea, unsweetened or sweetened. Prescribed for patients who cannot take food orally.
  3. No. 2 - gentle. Recommended for patients with gastrointestinal disorders and acute vascular disease.
  4. No. 3: a basic and rational diet. Compliant with adult patients and older children who do not require dietary restrictions.
  5. 4S - low fat. Prescribed for acute pancreatitis, inflammation of the gallbladder during the transition to oral food intake.
  6. No. 4 - low fat. Recommended for chronic diseases of the liver, pancreas and gallbladder (usually after switching from the stricter 4S).
  7. No. 5: no waste. Observed for disorders in the lower gastrointestinal tract.
  8. No. 6 - low in protein. Indicated for patients with chronic renal failure.
  9. No. 8 - low calorie. It is prescribed for obese people who do not require gentle nutritional adjustments, patients with hyperlipoproteinemia, type 1 and type 2 obesity (the diet contains more than 5000 kJ per day, so following the diet is relatively easy).
  10. No. 9 - diabetic. Recommended for patients with diabetes.
  11. 9S - diabetic gentle. Diabetic version of a soft diet.
  12. No. 10 - without salt. It is usually not part of the nutritional system, since all diets involve cooking food without adding salt (the finished dish is salted as necessary).
  13. No. 11 - nutritious. Intended for patients with greater energy needs and increased body weight.
  14. No. 12 - children's. If necessary, it is prescribed to children between 1, 5 and 3 years old.
  15. No. 13 - children's room. Complied with ages 3 to 15 years.
  16. Gluten-free: a gluten-free diet. Intended for patients who suffer from gluten intolerance (celiac disease).
  17. Low phosphorus diet for dialysis. Observed by patients undergoing hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.

Nowadays there are also vegetarian diet options.

diet salad

The most popular diets to lose weight.

A low-energy diet is a nutritional program aimed at reducing body weight, which is an important method of treating overweight and obesity. Its most common purpose is to eliminate excess fat. An effective weight loss diet plan should evenly reduce fat tissue in the body. But it is often observed by people (mostly young girls) who are not overweight, but feel the need to lose weight due to fatigue dictated by fashion.

Weight loss may be due not only to loss of fat, but also water and muscle. Therefore, there is no direct relationship between fat content and body weight. Muscle loss during weight loss can be reduced through exercise and proper food choices. An inadequate diet poses a danger to health. It can also have the opposite effect (after losing weight, fat deposits form again, the so-called "yo-yo effect").

People need nutrients: proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, water. Essential amino acids (protein components) are important for the production of cells, especially muscle cells. Essential fatty acids participate in the formation of brain cells. Vitamins and minerals are essential for many functions. The total amount of energy varies depending on the person's age. For adults, the optimal intake is 1200 to 1500 kcal/day.

Among the most famous diet programs to lose weight are the following meal plans.

Ducan's diet

This is a weight loss diet published by French nutritionist Dr. Pierre Dukan in the book "I Can't Lose Weight. "It is based on 4 stages of different duration:

  • first: 2 to 10 days;
  • second - 14 days;
  • third, depending on the number of kilograms lost (1 kg = 10 days of the third stage);
  • the fourth - constantly.

Each phase has allowed and prohibited products. The scheme develops from the most intense phase (only foods containing protein are consumed) to the last phase (everything is consumed respecting a protein day once a week). A necessary part of the weight loss process is the drinking regimen.

box diet

This nutritional program is based on eating food in limited quantities, but more frequently.

The box diet works on the principle of regular food dosage. Your goal is to get into the habit of eating small amounts of food at regular intervals, without overeating, and eating large portions 3 times a day.

paleolithic diet

The Paleolithic program, also called the paleo diet or stone age diet, is often called a lifestyle. A person following a Paleo diet approximates the supposed diet of prehistoric man during the Paleolithic, the longest period in human history, which lasted about 3 million years. During this period, people did not know agriculture; They obtained food from hunting and gathering. But the diet of hunter-gatherers was and remains high in calories. It also contains more carbohydrates than the average modern diet.

Proponents of this dietary pattern suggest that human digestion is not evolutionarily adapted to agricultural products (cereals, dairy products).

Therefore, when following a paleo diet, agricultural products are excluded or limited from the diet:

  • cereals;
  • legumes;
  • bread;
  • milk;
  • cheese;
  • semi-finished products, etc.

The menu consists mainly of meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, nuts and eggs. It also includes fats (avocado, coconut, olive oil, lard).

Breuss Diet

The Breuss diet is a nutritional program named after its author, Rudolf Breuss, an Austrian electrician and healer (sometimes called a doctor, but he never studied at a specialized university). This diet was originally an alternative medicine method that offered a cure for cancer. Its essence lies in the "starvation of the tumor", its life only from the solid component of food.

Thanks to the "side effect" of weight loss, the Breuss diet began to be used to eliminate excess weight.

It consists of 42 days of abstention from solid foods. Only selected vegetable juices and infusions are drunk. The juice is produced industrially from organically grown vegetables. It can be prepared at home, but industrial juice is sterilized and, in addition to plant components, contains lactic acid bacteria.

protein diet

Also known as the "protein", "cyclical ketogenic", "ketone" or "keto" diet. This is a scientifically proven method that produces good weight loss results in just a few weeks. Dr. Russell Wilder used it for medical purposes already in 1921. The father of its modern version can be considered Professor George L. Blackburn, who studied the burning of stored fat in the human body.

With conventional forms of weight loss, the body can reduce up to 40% of muscle mass. But muscles are the main fat burners. Consequently, once dietary restrictions are ended, the metabolism cannot cope with the amount of dietary energy that was present before the diet change. A yo-yo effect occurs. Professor Blackburn identified the state of ketosis and the possibility of its activation in the body. The main benefit of it is weight loss by burning stored fat and preserving muscle mass, which minimizes the risk of the yo-yo effect.

Fast food is prohibited on a diet.

Mayer's diet.

This is a weight loss technique developed by Dr. Franz Xavier Mayer. It consists of limiting the consumption of calories, proteins, fats, fruits and vegetables. Dry stale bread is consumed with water. Chewing bread causes increased salivation, which improves digestion. Drinking causes diarrhea, which removes harmful deposits from the body.

Nowadays, the popularity of this method is decreasing (for obvious reasons).

separate meal

This scheme is based on the assumption that proteins require an acidic environment in the stomach, while carbohydrates require an alkaline environment. Therefore, protein foods should not be consumed at the same time as carbohydrate foods. This helps prevent the neutralization of digestive juices, thus avoiding disruption of the digestive process. When neutralized, neither fats nor proteins can be broken down effectively; carbohydrates ferment and proteins rot, producing toxic waste.

Therefore, separate nutrition is not a diet as such. This is a lifestyle change, a dietary adjustment. Its basis is a combination of proteins and neutral foods or carbohydrates and neutral foods (or the consumption of only neutral foods). It is also important to maintain a regular diet and consume foods in smaller portions. By reducing energy consumption, separate meals also serve as a method of weight loss.

IMPORTANT! Informative article! Before use it is advisable to consult a specialist.