18 Aug Classic diets and potential risks to our health
Excess weight is a problem that concerns many people, who are eagerly looking for ways to help them reduce and stabilize their body weight. For this reason, they turn to slimming centers, resort to the search for dietary forms consisting of foods, which have prevailed in public opinion as “healthy”, they follow different types of special diets, while in some cases they take slimming pills, hoping to achieve the desired results.
However, even if they follow the diet plan recommended to them, they do not get the expected results.
It is clear, then, that normal diets do not benefit us as much as we think. For the past 30 years, people have been following these guidelines, only succeeding in becoming fatter, instead of losing weight.
The most famous diets at a glance
Mediterranean diet
The Mediterranean diet includes foods such as fruits, fish, vegetables, nuts and olive oil. This is a diet that really helped people until 70-80 years ago when the natural environment had not been altered. However, in recent years, everything shows that in the end it does not provide a solution to the problem of Obesity and extra pounds.
ORAC diet
The ORAC diet is based on the consumption of nutritious and antioxidant foods. Based on this reasoning, the ORAC scale was formed, in which it is calculated in percentages whether a food can shield the body from free radicals. However, the ability of food to neutralize only one free radical, the peroxide radical, was determined, while at the same time this ability was assessed in a test tube and not in the human body. Thus, the table with the antioxidant capacity of food was withdrawn by the American Agency for Agriculture in May 2012.
Chemical diets
Chemical diets dictate the minimization of carbohydrates and the increase of protein and fat intake. Their name derives from the chemical reactions they cause in the body, such as the formation of ketone bodies. The person loses weight very quickly, which is regained in a short time, with a simultaneous disturbance of mental balance. In fact, ketone bodies, produced as metabolic products, can cause ketoacidosis, a condition that can be fatal.
Atkins diet
The Atkins diet recommends eating meat and cheese, while limiting carbohydrate intake. The person does not receive valuable nutrients, while due to the increased consumption of meat, there is a risk of increased uric acid levels, the kidneys and liver are burdened, while digestive or other intestinal disorders may occur. Also, after the end of the diet, intense bulimia is caused, with the result that the pounds are regained.
Dukan diet
The diet plan of the Dukan diet presupposes high protein intake and minimization of carbohydrate consumption. Its big disadvantage is the fact that fluids are lost and weight loss is attributed to the reduction of muscle mass and not fat. Thus, the weight increases again quickly, while the person feels physically exhausted.
Stillman diet
The Stillman diet is based on protein intake and limiting the consumption of fats and carbohydrates. However, since many categories of food are banned, the choice of food is very limited. The results are short-term, while in this diet you lose fluids and muscle mass and not fat. After completing the diet, the person may experience headaches, dizziness and constipation, while it is possible that the kidneys and liver will be burdened if the diet is prolonged.
The causes of failure of classical diets
The usual weight loss instructions, therefore, not only do not allow us to lose extra pounds, but further trigger weight gain. Their failure is mainly due to the fact that they are unable to manage the causes that cause weight gain. They change the metabolism, they are responsible for the appearance of hormonal imbalances and premature aging and increase the accumulation of fat. In fact, they have been implicated in acting as a vestibule for chronic diseases such as osteoporosis and diabetes.
Therapeutic Nutrition as an individualized diet plan
The diets of the past could not act simultaneously as a nutritional and “therapeutic” regimen. This chronic inability in the field of nutrition to investigate the real causes of change in our body weight has created the need to formulate a diet plan that covers the possible deficiencies of an individual, treating it as an isolated incident.
Thus, the Therapeutic (Molecular) Nutrition was created, a special nutritional platform that emerges after Specialized Medical tests, based on the exact metabolic profile of each individual. According to the diagnostic findings, a different diet plan is prepared for each person, in which different foods are recommended.
With these methods, cellular deficiencies are supplemented, which are the main causes for weight gain. In the event that many or extensive deficiencies are found, micronutrient supplements may be given in combination with nutritional therapy.
Therapeutic (Molecular) Nutrition is based on the natural specifications of the human body and its metabolic processes, which take place inside the cells. In the body, a complex process takes place, after the consumption of food, during which the food is converted.
The current nutritional plan of Therapeutic (Molecular) Nutrition contributes to the supply of each organism with all those necessary elements that establish good health. The person is shielded from possible infections, Chronic, Autoimmune and Metabolic diseases.
Foods are not just energy, but contribute to the transmission of information, instructions and function as a code that exercises control over all the functions of our body. These include the chemistry of the brain, various factors that determine appetite, functions related to the immune system, gene expression, hormones and the microbiome itself.
Read more:
Fasting: to what extent does it benefit us?
6 + 1 Effective methods of avoiding sugar consumption
References:
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- Forouhi NG, Misra A, Mohan V, Taylor R, Yancy W. Dietary and nutritional approaches for prevention and management of type 2 diabetes. BMJ. 2018;361:k2234. doi:1136/bmj.k2234
- Yaffe. MD, et al. Advanced glycation and product level, diabetes, and accelerated cognitive aging. Neurology October 4, 2011 77:1351-56.
- “Molecular nutrition & food research”. NLM Catalog. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
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- “Definition for diet”. Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
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- Katz DL, Meller S (2014). “Can we say what diet is best for health?”. Annu Rev Public Health. 35: 83–103. doi:10.1146/annurev-publhealth-032013-182351. PMID 24641555.
