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Balanced nutrition vs. diets. Which is more effective for weight loss?
Tired of strict diets that don't work? Do you want to lose weight without harming your health?
Nearly 2 billion adults are overweight and are investigating how to lose weight. The information field is full of nutrition recommendations and weight loss marathons. What to choose: keto or Dukan diet, paleo or intermittent fasting? Should you limit yourself in food at all?
The editorial staff of MEDplus asked the experts: nutritionist Vasyl Lukyanov and healthy nutrition consultant Maria Fedorenko.
According to Google queries, the following diets are currently popular: intermittent fasting, keto, Dukan diet (protein), Mediterranean, and paleo.
Is it really so? Tell us about them.
Maria:
First of all, you need to define what a diet is. Diet (way of life) is a set of rules for food consumption. It came to us from medicine because people realized a long time ago that food affects not only our appearance but also our health.
Diet is always a restriction. People now understand the importance of balanced nutrition, but diets are still popular. Why? Most modern “diets” for weight loss are attractive because they give quick results. But the main drawback is that the effect of such restrictions is very short-lived. And when returning to the usual way of life, the weight returns. In addition, many diets have contraindications, unfortunately, not everyone is aware of this. While balanced nutrition gives long-term and stable results.
Vasyl:
Intermittent fasting is a type of eating, when we eat part of the time in a day, and the other part, accordingly, we do not eat. The most popular option is 16/8: when you eat for 8 hours and do not eat for 16 hours.
Some people really lose kilograms on intermittent fasting, but this happens primarily due to a lack of calories: because you simply do not have time to overeat in the allowed time intervals. There are no advantages in this mode. Nothing will change if you distribute the same amount of food not over 8 hours, but as you wish.
Keto or LCHF (Low Carb High Fat — few carbohydrates, many fats). Generally, keto is good for people with insulin resistance or high blood sugar.
I’m not a fan of the full keto diet, when people enter ketosis, measure their ketone bodies… It takes a week for the body to start getting energy from fat. You can lose weight by limiting the amount of carbohydrates. Keto has its own “pitfalls”, for example, nitrogen in the blood increases.
The paleo diet is minimally processed foods. “Ancestral food” sounds great in theory. But we don’t know if our ancestors did everything right 🙂
Now the world is different, the food is different, it undergoes certain processing for longer storage.
The Dukan or Atkins diet (high protein) is suitable mostly for athletes and bodybuilders, but not on a permanent basis. With intense loads (when training lasts 5-6 hours a day), it will be appropriate for a temporary period.
Maria:
The Mediterranean one is rather not a diet in the general sense, but a way of eating typical of the Mediterranean countries. Includes plenty of vegetables, fruits, and herbs, plenty of fish, seafood, nuts, and olives (oil), legumes, whole grains, a small amount of meat, and dairy products (mainly in the form of aged cheeses).
According to research, this way of eating has a positive effect, first of all, on health and life expectancy. The content of a large amount of fiber, unsaturated fats and protein reduces the risks of cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, thyroid diseases, and systemic inflammation. By following such a diet, you can really lose excess weight, but this will not necessarily happen.
It is possible to follow such a diet in our realities, but it is expensive. We must consider our climatic conditions, lack of large fish catch, and cultural features.
But it is possible to eat a balanced diet in our country with our products. Vegetables, meat, legumes, fermented products, herring, nuts, and whole grains are the basis of healthy Ukrainian nutrition.
How to understand that a person needs to lose weight?
Vasyl:
According to physiological indicators, it is easiest to measure the waist. For women, the waist circumference should be no more than 80 cm, and for men – 94 cm, respectively. If the waist is wider, it indicates that there is a large percentage of fat.
Why the waist? It can become wider only due to additional fat deposits.
If there is a desire, you can do a bio-impedance analysis of the body composition and be guided by it. You can undergo other tests: check the liver for fatty hepatosis (with ultrasound of the abdominal cavity), take a blood test for cholesterol, liver, and kidney tests. When there is a heavy load on the liver, this is a direct indication to start adjusting the weight.
Why do some people lose or gain weight easily and others do not?
Maria:
Gaining extra weight or losing it depends on many factors: gender, age, hormonal status, genetics, diseases, lifestyle, sleep and even stress level. Therefore, all things being equal, one person can gain more than another because, for example, he sleeps little or poorly or takes some medication.
Weight loss and muscle gain depend on the same factors. For example, men lose weight faster than women. Some chronic diseases and conditions can slow down or speed up the process (thyroid disease, problems with carbohydrate metabolism, stomach acidity, etc.).
Vasyl:
Yes, the state of health really affects the feeling of hunger, satiety and energy. But all these factors affect weight loss by about 15-20%
In fact, everyone can lose excess kilograms. It all depends on the behavior and the chosen strategy.
If a person says that he cannot lose weight because of problems with hormones, or something similar, you need to consult a psychologist.
What type of eating is popular now?
Vasyl:
Intuitive eating is trending. Now it is “fashionable” to eat consciously, not to limit oneself in anything, to feel one’s body, to listen to what the body wants.
It sounds good, but it all depends on how you interpret it. When a person says that he “intuitively” wants to eat 2 cakes a day – maybe it is related to stress and it is necessary to work with a psychologist, or there are deficient conditions – for example, with anemia (when there is a deficiency of iron) you want something sweet. The problem with intuitive eating is that if you’ve been doing one thing all the time, your body won’t ask for something different—you’re just used to eating that way all your life.
Everyone wants a magic pill to take and become slim and healthy. But, unfortunately, not everything is so simple. The secret lies in the balance.
Is it possible to lose weight by severely restricting oneself in food?
Maria:
Hard food restrictions can give you rapid weight loss. But it should be noted that this is primarily a loss of water and muscles. A decrease in muscle mass will slow down metabolic processes. The quick result that we all so long for, in most cases, leads to problems and a return to the initial weight, and sometimes – to gaining more.
Restrictions can lead to a number of negative consequences: in addition to a decrease in muscle mass, it is a deficiency of macro- and micronutrients (vitamins, minerals), a malfunction in the hormonal system, sleep disturbances, a decrease in immunity, hair loss and sagging skin, a malfunction in the thyroid gland, fatigue
Vasyl:
I always recommend losing weight longer, but better. It is better not to think at all about “how to lose kilograms quickly”, but to try to work with nutrition, with your regime, and then good shape or weight loss will be a pleasant bonus.
It is recommended to lose no more than 1% of the total body weight per week.
Do you need to count cpfc (calories, proteins, fats, carbohydrates) for weight loss?
Vasyl:
This is a debatable issue. This is a very simple method, if you do not know why the number on the scale isn’t changing – it will be clear when you know when and what you overate.
I would 100% advise everyone to count calories for at least 2 weeks.
You can count for some time, and then you get used to it (if you count how much protein is in a portion of chicken 10-15 times, you will clearly know how much is needed). The calculation of KPFC is still approximate, and there are always discrepancies due to the density of fiber in the meat, different cooking methods, etc.
But people with eating disorders (ED) are even more “driven” by counting calories into eating disorders. In my practice, I have encountered such cases when a person cannot eat at all if there is no calorie calculator nearby.
How to eat to consolidate the result of losing weight?
Vasyl:
Actually, everything here is individual. If we take a conditionally healthy person (of whom, unfortunately, there are not so many) – he can eat almost anything, if it fits into the balance of the KPFC. When most of the diet consists of minimally processed products, you can even add junk food (unhealthy, literally “junk food” – burgers, pizza, nuggets – ed.) in moderation – and not gain weight.
However, not everyone can do this, because there are conditions that require a stricter diet: fungal infections, parasitosis, Gilbert’s syndrome, etc.
Maria:
There is no one-size-fits-all diet. It should be understood that a healthy, balanced diet should be a way of life, not a temporary measure. Being overweight is always the result of consuming more than you expend. That is, you eat a lot (not necessarily in quantity, it can be a little high-calorie food) or you are not physically active and do not expend energy. It is easy to follow a balanced diet – more whole natural products, less refined and processed. Fish is better than crab stick, apple is better than apple juice, meat is better than sausage.
Is there a diet after which a person will not gain weight?
Vasyl:
100% yes, there is such a diet — lifelong 🙂
This includes both physical activity and regimen. It is important to choose what is right for you, so that your way of eating becomes not a diet, but a lifestyle.
Why is there no one-size-fits-all answer to how to lose weight correctly? Everyone has a different way of life. Your diet does not exist apart from you, it should meet your needs.
So, how to lose weight without suffering and hard restrictions?
Only one method is effective – a balanced diet.
A balanced diet is a way of eating, which requires you to maintain a balance of calories and the main nutrients in food: proteins, fats, and carbohydrates (pfc) following your lifestyle.
Basic principles of a balanced diet:
- complex carbohydrates should be at least 2/3 of the daily calorie intake;
- simple* carbohydrates should not exceed 5% of the food weight;
- be sure to consume protein with each meal and choose your norm;
- don’t avoid fats.
Carbohydrates are the major source of energy for the body. Whole grain products, various cereals, fruits and vegetables are complex carbohydrates that provide the body with the necessary fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
*Simple carbohydrates include instant cereals, muesli, cereal, cookies, etc.
Proteins are the building blocks of the body. They are necessary for tissue repair, enzyme production, and immune system functioning. Protein sources are lean meat, fish, eggs, legumes, and dairy products. The amount of protein consumed per day may vary depending on your athletic goals or health status.
Fats are the slowest source of energy, but the most energy-efficient form of food. Each gram of fat provides the body with approximately 9 calories (this is twice as much as proteins and carbohydrates). It is fats that are needed for cell building, skin elasticity and hormone production. They should not be avoided or feared, with a balanced diet they do not cause any harm.
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