Diet - what it is, types and the most popular methods for losing weight

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

diet food

Diet - what is it (therapeutic diet, weight loss diet)?

"Diet (from the Greek diaita, Δίαιτα) is the controlled consumption of food and liquid, with the aim of achieving a specific goal. The term "diet" can be used in several different ways: hospital (official) diets, programs for weight loss, maintaining or changing health, long-termfood systems (supported by a lifestyle or philosophy). "This is how wiki describes diet (Wikipedia. org).

Principles of dietary nutrition:

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

Diet is a broad term. The nutrition program as such does not imply starvation or sudden changes that lead to a worsening of the condition.

Types of diets

The goal of changing your diet may be weight loss – many diet programs focus on weight loss. This term refers to the cars that are most widely known to the public. The next reason for adhering to dietary restrictions is the presence of disease. Such programs are prescribed by doctors; It is not recommended to monitor them independently, without making a diagnosis (especially by an unhealthy person). Other nutrition goals are more specific. They include improving the quality of hair, nails and skin. There are also diets for building, strengthening muscle mass, nutrition schemes for overall improvement of immunity, etc.

Diet is related to detoxification of the body. This is also a dietary change, a restriction, but short-term.

Medical tables (tables)

In the presence of illness, it is important to ensure not only 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 make food choices in consultation with a nutritionist.

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

  1. NPO (N) - hunger strike.
  2. 0S - tea party. Tea, unsweetened or sweetened. It is prescribed to patients who cannot eat orally.
  3. no. 2 - gently. It is recommended for patients with gastrointestinal disorders and acute vascular diseases.
  4. No. 3 - basic, rational diet. Adapted to adult patients and older children who do not need dietary restrictions.
  5. 4S - low fat. It is prescribed for acute pancreatitis, inflammation of the gallbladder when switching to oral food intake.
  6. no. 4 - little fat. It is recommended for chronic diseases of the liver, pancreas and gall bladder (usually after switching from the stricter 4S).
  7. no. 5 - no leftovers. Observed in disorders of the lower gastrointestinal tract.
  8. no. 6 - low protein level. Suitable for patients with chronic kidney failure.
  9. no. 8 - low-calorie. It is prescribed to obese people who do not require gentle adjustment of the diet, patients with hyperlipoproteinemia, type 1 and type 2 obesity (the diet contains more than 5000 kJ per day, so adherence to the diet is relatively easy).
  10. no. 9 - diabetic. It is recommended for patients with diabetes.
  11. 9S - gentle for diabetics. The diabetic version of a gentle diet.
  12. no. 10 - unsalted. It is usually not part of the diet, because all diets involve cooking food without adding salt (almost salt is eaten as needed).
  13. No. 11 - nutritious. Intended for patients with increased energy needs and increased body weight.
  14. no. 12 - baby. If necessary, it is prescribed for children aged 1, 5-3 years.
  15. no. 13 - children's room. Suitable for ages 3-15.
  16. Gluten-free - gluten-free diet. Intended for patients suffering from gluten intolerance (celiac disease).
  17. Low phosphorus dialysis diet. Observed in patients undergoing hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.

Today, there are also vegetarian diet options.

salad on a diet

The most popular diet for weight loss

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 remove excess fat. An effective diet plan for weight loss should evenly reduce fat tissue in the body. But it is often noticed by people (mostly young girls) who are not overweight, but feel the need to lose weight due to the fashion dictates of emaciation.

Weight loss can be caused by the loss of not only 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 with exercise and proper food choices. Improper nutrition is a health hazard. It can also have the opposite effect (after losing weight, fat deposits are created again - the so-called "yo-yo effect").

Humans 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 are involved in the formation of brain cells. Vitamins and minerals are essential for many functions. The total amount of energy varies depending on the age of the person. For adults, the optimal intake is 1200-1500 kcal/day.

Among the most famous diet programs for weight loss are the following diet plans.

Ducan's diet

This is a weight loss diet published by a French nutritionist, Dr. Pierre Dukan in the book "I can't lose weight". It is based on 4 phases of different duration:

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

Each stage has allowed and prohibited products. The scheme develops from the most intensive phase (only food containing protein is consumed) to the last phase (everything is consumed while observing a protein day once a week). A necessary part of the weight loss process is the drinking regime.

Box diet

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

Box diet works on the principle of regular dosing of food. Its 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 the Stone Age Diet, is often referred to as a lifestyle. A person following a Paleo diet approximates the supposed diet of early humans during the Paleolithic era, the longest period in human history, which lasted about 3 million years. In that period, people did not know agriculture, they got food by hunting and gathering. But the hunter-gatherer diet was and remains high in calories. It also contains more carbohydrates than the average modern diet.

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

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

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

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

The 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 food component.

Thanks to the "side effect" of losing weight, the Breuss diet began to be used to get rid of extra pounds.

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

Protein diet

Also known as the "protein", "cyclic ketogenic", "ketone" or "keto" diet. This is a scientifically proven method that gives good weight loss results in just a few weeks. Dr. Russell Wilder used it for medical purposes as early as 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, after dietary restriction is stopped, the metabolism cannot cope with the amount of energy in the diet that was present before the dietary change. A yo-yo effect occurs. Professor Blackburn identified the state of ketosis and the possibility of its activation in the body. Its main advantage is weight loss by burning stored fat and preserving muscle mass, which reduces the risk of the yo-yo effect.

fast food is forbidden on the 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 hard bread is consumed with water. Chewing bread causes increased secretion of saliva, which improves digestion. Drinking causes diarrhea, which removes harmful deposits from the body.

Today, the popularity of this method is declining (for obvious reasons).

Separate food

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 foods containing carbohydrates. This helps to prevent the neutralization of digestive juices, thus avoiding the disturbance of the digestive process. When neutralized, neither fats nor proteins can be efficiently broken down; carbohydrates ferment and proteins rot, creating toxic residues.

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

IMPORTANT! Informative article! Before use, you should consult a specialist.