Nutrition should be tailored to the person's health condition. Various diseases affect biological processes in the body, so it is necessary to change the need for nutrients. Dietary programs are used to achieve these changes. Diet is an integral part of therapeutic nutrition prescribed by a doctor, which affects the course of the disease, recovery, elimination of obesity and excess body weight.
Diet - what is it (therapeutic diets, weight loss diets)?
"Diet (from Greek diaita, Δίαιτα) is a controlled consumption of food and liquids aimed at achieving a certain goal. The term "diet" can be used in several different ways: hospital (official) diets, programs to lose weight, maintain or change health, long-term dietary systems (supported by a lifestyle or philosophy). "This is how wiki describes the 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 the consumption of vegetables (dill, parsley, lemon instead of vinegar);
- depending on the disease - increase/decrease of certain nutrients;
- regular meals (5 times a day, in case of diabetes - 6 times a day);
- emphasis on the taste of food - increasing appetite in patients.
Diet is a broad concept. The diet program itself does not imply starvation or sudden changes leading to worsening of the condition.
Types of diets
The goal of changing your diet may be to lose weight—a number of nutrition programs focus on weight loss. This term refers to the schemes that are most widely known to the public. The next reason for observing dietary restrictions is the presence of an illness. Such programs are prescribed by doctors; It is not recommended to follow them independently without making a diagnosis (especially from an unhealthy person). Other diet goals are more specific. These include improving the quality of hair, nails and skin. There are also diets for building, strengthening muscle mass, nutritional schemes for overall improvement of immunity, etc.
Diets are related to detoxification of the body. This is also a change in diet, a restriction, but short-lived.
Medical diets (tables)
In the presence of a disease, 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, one should be able to make food choices in consultation with a nutritionist.
What is a diet from a medical point of view? Today, the classification of diet programs (tables) usually looks like this:
- NGO (H) - hunger strike.
- 0S - tea room. Tea, unsweetened or sweetened. It is prescribed to patients who cannot take food by mouth.
- No. 2 - gently. It is recommended for patients with gastrointestinal disorders and acute vascular diseases.
- No. 3 – basic, rational nutrition. It is observed in adult patients and older children who do not need dietary restrictions.
- 4S - low fat content. It is prescribed for acute pancreatitis, inflammation of the gallbladder during the transition to oral food intake.
- No. 4 – low fat content. It is recommended for chronic diseases of the liver, pancreas and gall bladder (usually after passing through the stricter 4S).
- No. 5 - no residue. Disorders in the lower part of the gastrointestinal tract are observed.
- No. 6 – low protein content. Suitable for patients with chronic renal failure.
- No. 8 - low-calorie. It is prescribed to obese people who do not need slight dietary adjustments, patients with hyperlipoproteinemia, type 1 and type 2 obesity (the diet contains more than 5000 kJ per day, so compliance with the diet is relatively easy).
- No. 9 - diabetic. Recommended for diabetic patients.
- 9S - diabetic gentle. Diabetic version of a gentle diet.
- No. 10 - unsalted. It is not usually part of the food 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 - baby. If necessary, it is prescribed to children aged 1. 5-3 years.
- No. 13 - children's room. Suitable for ages 3–15.
- Gluten-free - a gluten-free diet. Intended for patients suffering from gluten intolerance (celiac disease).
- Dialysis diet low in phosphorus. It is observed in hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients.
Today there are also options for a vegetarian diet.
The most popular weight loss diets
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 body fat. But it is often seen 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 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 through exercise and proper food choices. Improper nutrition is dangerous to health. It can also have the opposite effect (after weight loss, fat deposits form 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 according to a person's age. For adults, the optimal intake is 1200–1500 kcal/day.
Among the most famous weight loss diet programs are the following meal plans.
The Dukan 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 duration:
- first - 2–10 days;
- second - 14 days;
- third - depending on the number of kilograms lost (1 kg = 10 days of the third stage);
- the fourth - permanently.
Each phase has permitted and prohibited products. The scheme develops from the most intensive phase (only foods containing protein are 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.
The box diet works on the principle of regular dosing of food. Its purpose is to create a 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 prehistoric man during the Paleolithic era, the longest period in human history lasting about 3 million years. During this period, people did not know agriculture, they obtained 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 food model suggest that human digestion is not evolutionarily adapted to agricultural products (cereals, dairy products).
Therefore, when you follow 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, eggs. Also includes fats (avocado, coconut, olive oil, lard).
Broys diet
The Breus Diet is a nutritional program named after its author Rudolf Breus, an Austrian electrician and healer (sometimes called a doctor, but he never studied at a specialized university). This diet was originally a method of alternative medicine that offered a cure for cancer. Its essence consists in "starving the tumor", its life only from the solid component of food.
Thanks to the "side effect" of losing weight, the Breuss diet plan began to be used to get rid of excess weight.
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 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 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. Prof. George L. Blackburn, who studied the burning of accumulated fat from the human body, can be considered the father of its modern version.
With conventional forms of weight loss, the body can reduce up to 40% of muscle mass. But muscle is the main fat burner. Therefore, after dietary restriction ends, the metabolism cannot cope with the amount of energy in the diet that was present before the dietary change. A yo-yo effect is obtained. Professor Blackburn identified the state of ketosis and the possibility of its activation in the body. Its main benefit is weight loss by burning accumulated fat and preserving muscle mass, which minimizes the risk of the yo-yo effect.
Meyer's diet
This is a weight loss technique developed by Dr. Franz Xavier Meyer. It consists in limiting the consumption of calories, proteins, fats, fruits and vegetables. Consume dry hard bread with water. 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 meals
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 neutralization of the digestive juices, thus avoiding disruption of the digestive process. When neutralized, neither fat nor protein can be efficiently broken down; carbohydrates ferment and proteins rot, producing toxic residues.
Therefore, split feeding is not a diet as such. It's a lifestyle change, a diet adjustment. Its basis is a combination of proteins and neutral foods or carbohydrates and neutral foods (or consumption of only neutral foods). It is also important to maintain a regular diet and consume food in smaller portions. By reducing energy consumption, split meals also serve as a method of weight loss.
IMPORTANT! Informative article! Before use, you should consult a specialist.