The diet must be adapted to the person’s state of health. Various diseases affect the body's biological processes, so it is necessary to change nutrient requirements. Diet programs are used to achieve these changes. Diet is an integral part of therapeutic nutrition prescribed by a doctor, affecting the course of the disease, recovery, elimination of obesity and excess weight.
Diet - what is it (therapeutic diets, weight loss diets)?
"Diet (from the Greek diaita, Δίαιτα) is the controlled consumption of food and fluids, aimed at achieving a specific goal. The term "diet" can be used in several different ways: hospital (official) diets, programs for losing weight, maintaining or modifying health, long-term food systems (supported by a lifestyle or philosophy). This is how the wiki describes the diet (Wikipedia. org).
Principles of diet nutrition:
- use of high quality raw materials;
- reduction of heat treatment of products;
- reduce consumption of hot spices;
- increase the consumption of green 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 of patients.
Diet is a broad concept. The dietary program as such does not imply hunger or sharp changes leading to a deterioration in the condition.
Types of diets
The goal of changing your diet may be to lose weight. A number of nutritional programs focus on weight loss. This term designates the circuits best known to the general public. The next reason for observing dietary restrictions is the presence of illness. Such programs are prescribed by doctors; It is not recommended to follow them independently, without making a diagnosis (especially by a person in poor health). Other dietary goals are more specific. They include improving the quality of hair, nails and skin. There are also diets for building, strengthening muscle mass, food regimens for overall improving immunity, etc.
Diets are associated with detoxification of the body. It is also a dietary change, a restriction, but in the short term.
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 make food choices in consultation with a nutritionist.
What is a diet in medical terms? Today, the classification of diet programs (tables) usually looks like this:
- NPO (N) - hunger strike.
- 0S - tea room. Tea, unsweetened or sweetened. Prescribed to patients unable to take food orally.
- No. 2 - soft. Recommended for patients suffering from gastrointestinal disorders and acute vascular diseases.
- No. 3 - a basic and rational diet. Respected by adult patients and older children who do not require dietary restrictions.
- 4S - low fat. Prescribed for acute pancreatitis, inflammation of the gallbladder when switching to oral food intake.
- No. 4 - low fat. Recommended for chronic diseases of the liver, pancreas and gallbladder (usually after passing the stricter 4S).
- No. 5 – residue-free. Observed for disorders of the lower gastrointestinal tract.
- No. 6 - low in protein. Suitable for patients suffering from chronic renal failure.
- No. 8 - low in calories. Prescribed to obese people who do not require gentle nutritional adjustments, patients with hyperlipoproteinemia, type 1 and type 2 obesity (the diet contains more than 5, 000 kJ per day, so compliance with the diet is relativelyeasy).
- No. 9 - diabetic. Recommended for diabetic patients.
- 9S - mild diabetic. Diabetic version of a gentle diet.
- No. 10 - unsalted. Usually not part of the nutritional system, since all diets involve cooking food without adding salt (the finished dish is salted as needed).
- No. 11 - nutritious. Intended for patients with increased energy needs and increased body weight.
- No. 12 - infant. If necessary, prescribed for children aged 1. 5-3 years.
- No. 13 - children's bedroom. Respected for ages 3 to 15.
- Gluten free – a gluten free diet. Intended for patients suffering from gluten intolerance (celiac disease).
- Low-phosphorus dialysis diet. Observed by patients undergoing hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.
Today, there are also vegetarian diet options.
The most popular diets for weight loss
A low-energy diet is a nutritional program aimed at reducing body weight, which is an important method for treating overweight and obesity. Its most common purpose is to eliminate excess fat. An effective diet for weight loss should evenly reduce fatty tissue in the body. But this is often observed by people (mainly young girls) who are not overweight, but feel the need to lose weight due to exhaustion imposed by fashion.
Weight loss can be caused not only by fat loss, but also by water and muscle loss. 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. A poor diet poses a health risk. It can also have the opposite effect (after weight loss, 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 age of the person. For adults, the optimal intake is 1, 200 to 1, 500 kcal/day.
Among the most well-known diet programs for weight loss are the following eating plans.
Ducan's diet
This is a weight loss diet published by the French nutritionist Dr Pierre Dukan in the book "I Can't Lose Weight". It is based on 4 stages of different durations:
- 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 permitted and prohibited products. The scheme proceeds from the most intense phase (only protein-containing foods are consumed) to the last phase (everything is consumed observing a protein day once a week). Diet is a necessary part of the weight loss process.
Boxed diet
This nutritional program is based on food consumption in limited quantities, but more often.
The box diet works on the principle of regular dosage of food. Its goal is to get into the habit of eating small amounts of food at regular intervals, without overeating, and to eat large portions 3 times a day.
Paleolithic diet
The Paleolithic diet, also called the Paleo diet or Stone Age diet, is often referred to as a lifestyle. A person following a paleo diet approximates the supposed diet of prehistoric man during the Paleolithic era, the longest period in human history, lasting approximately 3 million years. At that time, people did not know about agriculture; they lived 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 diet suggest that human digestion is not evolutionarily adapted to agricultural products (cereals, dairy products).
Thus, 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 mainly consists 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 for curing cancer. Its essence lies in "tumor starvation", its life only thanks to the solid component of food.
Thanks to the "side effects" of weight loss, the Breuss diet began to be used to get rid of excess weight.
This is 42 days of abstaining from solid food. Only selected vegetable juices and herbal teas 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", "cyclic keto", "ketone" or "keto" diet. This is a scientifically proven method that produces good weight loss results in just a few weeks. Dr. Russell Wilder already used it for medical purposes in 1921. The father of its modern version can be considered Professor George L. Blackburn, who studied the burning of fats stored by the human body.
With conventional forms of weight loss, the body can reduce up to 40% of its muscle mass. But muscles are the main fat burners. Therefore, after the dietary restrictions end, the metabolism can no longer cope with the amount of energy in the diet 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. Its main benefit is weight loss by burning stored fat and preserving muscle mass, which minimizes the risk of the yo-yo effect.
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. Hard, dry bread with water is eaten. Chewing bread causes increased salivation, 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 carbohydrate foods. This helps prevent the neutralization of digestive juices, thus avoiding any disruption to the digestive process. Once neutralized, neither fats nor proteins can be effectively broken down; carbohydrates ferment and proteins rot, producing toxic residue.
Therefore, a separate diet is not a diet as such. It’s 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 neutral foods only). It is also important to maintain a regular diet and consume foods in small portions. By reducing energy consumption, separate meals also serve as a method of losing weight.
IMPORTANT! Informative article! Before use, you should consult a specialist.