On the question of which diets are the most effective for losing weight, there are countless opinions, proportional to the number of people in the world who have managed to lose weight, nutritionists and Internet sites.
This question is similar to which sweets are the most delicious, which country is best to live in, or which mother is the most beautiful. . . occupying the minds of children of all ages; ).
No, this is not an indication that the answer does not exist. This is a warning that goes beyond the specific name of the best diet that works for everyone.
Despite the slightly vague beginning, I promise you that below you will find out which diets are the most effective for losing weight (we will provide you with a list of the 5 most effective diets), why there are many of them (and not just one). ) and what all the "best" have in common. "
We also tell you how the most popular diets work today and why they are not always the most effective.
All diets are the most effective. . .
There are several hundred, if not thousands, of diets.
They are created by cultures (Japanese, Brazilian), personalities (Pierre Dukan), at their center there are individual products (pumpkin, kefir, egg, rice, oatmeal, cottage cheese) or groups of products (protein diet), in some of them. You can eat almost everything (periodic fasting), in others, nothing (fasting).
And guess what?
The creators and supporters of each of these hundreds of diets, so different and so contradictory, claim that their diet is the most effective for losing weight.
And as an answer to the question posed in the title of this article, we could list all these diets and the result with which you would leave here, the name of a specific diet, the best and most effective, would depend only on how convincing it is. us was described here. . .
At the same time, I am sure that few people are interested in listening to fairy tales about everything or, once again, simply being convinced of something. By "effective diets" each of us means something very specific and specific, reducing the list of hundreds of diets to a few units.
Classification of diets.
The entire variety of existing diets can be reduced to a few groups depending on the principle of their action:
- remove fluid from the body with the help of drugs;
- remove fluid from the body by reducing the amount of carbohydrates in the diet;
- limit calories by eating the same foods and eliminating certain food groups completely;
- calorie restriction by reducing the amount of food consumed;
- limit calories by consuming certain foods with a high satiety index;
- Activation of fat burning by limiting the time of food consumption.
This is a very conditional classification that, however, illustrates well the principles of action of almost all diets. They differ in the degree of potential health damage and how easy or difficult it is to track them over time.
Many diets, considered the most effective, are often based on a combination of all these factors, which allows you to lose weight as quickly as possible, but is not always effective in terms of maintaining long-term health and results.
The most effective diet to lose weight is. . .
First we must make sure that we speak the same language with each other.
An effective diet can be understood as at least the following:
- a diet that allowslose weight quickly;
- Diet that helps you lose weight.does not harm healthso thatthe weight didn't come back;
- a diet thatit only helps you lose weight, since many of them don't work at all for some people.
Which one did you come here looking for?
I predict the answer will be: everyone. And fast, harmless and with long-term results.
So let's talk about everything in order.
How Falsely Effective Popular Diets Work
Different people have different meanings for the concept of "weight loss. "For some it is a decrease in scale readings, for others it is a decrease in body fat percentage.
Do you feel the difference?
Weight loss during weight loss does not always occur due to fat: in many so-called effective diets for rapid weight loss, weight is lost due to the removal of fluid from the body.
Among these types of diets: a detox diet, the use of laxatives for weight loss or diuretics (diuretics).
They are very effective at quickly changing scale readings, but they do somanipulating not the fat content in the body, but the water content.
This may be acceptable to some, but it is important to understand that all of these dietsThey do not give long-term results: The weight comes back very quickly as soon as the "diet" is stopped.
Furthermore, prolonged compliance with this type of diet is fraught with risks.very serious risk of damage to health.
All of the most falsely effective diets for rapid weight loss manipulate the body's fluid content, not fat. None of them give long-term results and all of them are very dangerous for your health.
About popular "super effective" diets of fashionable stars
The most popular diets, named after stars of show business, the Kremlin and Hollywood, have two common features:
- Theyvery strictly limit the number of product typesnutrition in diet;
- characterizedvery low in carbohydrates.
How does it work? Very simple.
On the one hand, severely limiting food variety makes counting calories easier; On the other hand, it reduces the likelihood of overeating, as the diet becomes monotonous and tasteless.
Why do people gain weight quickly with carbohydrates, but lose weight quickly without them?
When we eat carbohydrates, the level of the hormone insulin increases in the blood, whose function is to transport energy (carbohydrates) into the cells to be used as energy.
If the energy requirement is low, carbohydrates are stored short-term: glycogen in the liver and muscles. When these reserves are full, excess carbohydrates are converted to fat and stored in long-term stores in the form of fat, the location of which is familiar to everyone.
Why do you lose weight quickly by eliminating carbohydrates from your diet?
Each gram of glycogen binds to several grams of fluid.
If we reduce the amount of carbohydrates in the diet, very quickly (within one day) glycogen reserves are emptied, the water that was used to store them is eliminated from the body and body weight decreases.
The vast majority of popular "super effective" diets that promise quick results are based on removing fluid from the body and strictly limiting permitted foods.
The fundamental principle of any correct and effective diet.
Remember one simple rule: all diets that are based onreducing caloriesEffective diet to lose weight.
In fact, there are many diets of this type. Because? Because there are many ways to limit calories, from inducing vomiting to accurately counting calories in dishes on a scale or strictly limiting carbohydrates and fats in the diet.
Effective from the point of view of the absence of damage to health and the ease of adherence for a long time (ideally, throughout life), among them will be those that provide the nutrients necessary to maintain health (vitamins and minerals, proteins , fats, carbohydrates) and satisfy hunger.
All of the most effective diets are based on calorie restriction. This is achieved in various ways with varying degrees of damage to health.
Why is calorie counting so important?
Scientists consider excess calories to be the main cause of obesity in our time. This is not at all due to a lack of physical activity, although modern people have begun to move much less.
Look at what the researchers of the scientific portal say, whose mission is to study the effectiveness of various nutritional supplements and debunk popular myths on the subject of nutrition, based on scientific research:
". . .Our body weight is determined more by how many calories we eat per day (from carbohydrates, proteins, fats and alcohol) than by what exactly we eat (the nutrient ratio of fats, proteins, carbohydrates)..
Eating a lot of calories is the only wayexplanation of the total obesity epidemic today.
The fact that it is the excess of calories in the diet of a modern person that is the main cause of obesity is proven by a large number of scientific studies.
A large number of scientific articles have been written on this topic.
On the Internet there are many examples of weight loss with absolutely unhealthy foods such as fast food, pizza, potatoes, which prove thatall you need to start losing weight is to eat less.
So, the main thing that is important to learn:
To lose weight, only the number of calories is important, but for health, what exactly we eat is important. All diets that are based on reducing caloric intake are useful for losing weight.
The most effective diet is one that works for you and that you can follow for a long time.
There are many stories on the Internet about successful weight loss with completely different diets. Among them there are deceitful ones and there are also truthful ones.
Some say the most effective way to lose weight is intermittent fasting, others say the ketogenic diet, and others say the Dukan protein diet. And someone shouts that nothing works.
Not all diets work for all people, mainly because each person, due to their individual characteristics, requires different efforts to follow them.
For meat lovers, it will be incredibly difficult to "sit" only on vegetables, fruits and cereals. But they will certainly like Pierre Dukan's protein diet or the Kremlin diet, which are essentially the same.
Those who don't want to change anything in their food basket can appreciate the benefits of intermittent fasting, which does not require drastic changes in diet, but only suggests eating at a certain time.
Well, those who are not tied to this world by taste preferences can try for themselves the benefits of the ketogenic diet, which is rumored to be one of the healthiest.
At the same time, the ketogenic diet is not recommended for athletes and is quite difficult to follow for physically active people, since it almost completely eliminates carbohydrates, our body's main source of energy.
So:
The best diet for you is the one that works for you and the one you can follow for a long time, ideally your entire life.
It is impossible to follow a diet for a long time that leads to a state of chronic hunger and nervousness.
That is why very often, after reaching the desired scale readings, one returns to favorite eating habits and previous weight.
Fat cells are very resistant. . They don't die immediately when you lose weight, they just decrease in size. Start feeding them and very soon (and quite easily) they will return to "normal".
To lose weight forever, you need to change your eating habits forever.and only the diet you can live on for the rest of your life will help you with this.
To lose weight permanently, you need to change your eating habits permanently.
The 5 most effective diets to lose weight
So, the most effective diet is one that:
- intended to reduce the percentage of body fat, not water;
- limit calories;
- allows you to keep it for a long time;
- It provides all the nutrients that the body needs to stay healthy.
To lose weight, calorie restriction is important and for health, the composition of food is important.
The most effective diet for losing weight is one that limits the number of calories in the diet, leads to a decrease in the percentage of body fat, not water, and is not harmful to health.
Many popular diets are effective. A list of the top 5 is provided below.
Low carbohydrate diets
The most popular diets achieve calorie restriction by reducing carbohydrates. Of primary importance are sugar and fructose, whose excessive consumption is recognized by scientists as the main cause of obesity.
Examples of low carbohydrate diets:
- ketogenic diet– a diet high in fat, low in protein and very low in carbohydrates;
- dIeta Atkins– a diet high in fat, high in protein and very low in carbohydrates;
- Paleo diet(Hunter-gatherer diet or stone age diet.) – high fat, high protein and low carbohydrate;
- Pierre Dukan's protein diet.– a diet rich in protein (for meat lovers), low in carbohydrates.
- intermittent fasting– in addition to limiting the amount of carbohydrates, limit the time in which food intake is allowed (see below).
Why are low carb diets so effective for weight loss?
Fats and proteins are digested more slowly than carbohydrates, so they givegreater feeling of fullnessfor longer.
Almost all of these dietsIt is recommended to eat foods that are less "loaded" with calories., which contain more vegetable fiber and water: half a kilo of broccoli contains fewer calories than half a kilo of cereals, and more than a cake; ).
Carbohydrates cause overeating and, as a general rule, it is always best to eat a lot of them (especially if they are sweet).
This is explained by the fact that its absorption is accompanied by certain hormonal changes in the body:
- They participate in the synthesis of serotonin, the so-called "happiness hormone" in the brain, which stimulates the desire to eat; That's probably why we love sweets so much and eat chocolate for depression.
- They affect the levels of satiety and hunger hormones (leptin and ghrelin), which control appetite; with regular consumption of carbohydrates (especially sugar and fructose), immunity to these hormones can develop, which causes uncontrolled appetite and excessive food intake;
- after eating sweets, there is a sharp increase in the level of insulin in the blood, the task of which is to control blood sugar; Once its work is completed, sugar drops sharply, which also causes a feeling of hunger.
Scientific research confirms thatlow carbohydrate dietsone of the most effective for losing weight, as they make you want to eat less, eat fewer calories, and are less likely to overeat.
The list of the 5 most effective diets includes low-carbohydrate diets. All of them are effective for losing weight, because. . . Limit calories and avoid overeating.
Intermittent fasting is one of the most effective diets
Many modern scientists call intermittent fasting.one of the most effective diets not only for weight loss, but also for health.
Unlike traditional fasting, this does not require complete abstinence from food, which is very difficult to tolerate and, as will be shown below, is far from the most effective weight loss strategy.
Intermittent fasting involves eating only at specific times during the day, within an 8-hour period. Because? Because this allows you to maximize the fat burning process.
In this diet, there is no strict restriction on the set of permitted foods: only common foods harmful to weight loss in the form of simple carbohydrates, mainly sugar and fructose, are excluded. This is an element of a low carbohydrate diet.
It's all pretty simple and the health benefits are enormous.
Many scientists recognize that intermittent fasting is one of the most effective diets for losing weight.
Some Popular Misconceptions About Diets
Finally, let's look at some popular myths that are often presented in many diets as key to effective weight loss.
Balanced and separate diets (monodiets) differ in the degree of harm to health
Eating proteins, fats and carbohydrates together (balanced diet) or separately (separate diet or monodiet) does not in any way increase the effectiveness of weight loss, although from a health point of view the benefits of a balanced approach are obvious .
We reveal a secret to you: you can lose weight even with fast food, cakes, sweets. . . if you eat them carefully, respecting the principle of calorie restriction.
The following statement is valid for all monodiets:
"Any diet that promotes the complete elimination of any nutrient group (be it proteins, carbohydrates or fats) is incorrect and is fraught with serious health consequences if followed long term. "
To lose weight, it is not particularly important whether proteins, fats and carbohydrates enter the body in a balanced form or separately: their quantity is important. However, from a health point of view, monodiets are more harmful to health.
The timing and frequency of meals do not matter for weight loss.
To lose weight, only your total caloric intake during the day matters.
Naturally,Eating small, frequent meals allows you to better control your appetiteand avoid overeating after long hours of abstinence. But it's important that you see the same basic principle at its root: it's simply a way to limit and control calories.
If the calculated daily calorie content is 1500 kcal, then in terms of weight loss it doesn't really matter whether you eat them in one meal or in several.
About fasting: how effective is fasting for weight loss?
One of the popular diets to lose weight is complete abstinence from food or fasting.
A radical rejection of food seems quite logical as a method of effectively solving the problem of excess weight.
But that's not true.
The problem is that fasting leads to a significant decrease ininternal metabolic rate.
According to scientific data, resting metabolism (the energy expended at rest just to maintain the body's internal functions) accounts for the majority of calories burned each day: around 70%. Decreasing this value significantly reduces the rate of weight loss.
The benefits of fasting for weight loss are a myth.
If the state of hunger continues for several days, the metabolic rate decreases very significantly.
Weight loss during fasting is mainly due to a decrease in the amount of fluid in the body. Also during prolonged fastingyou lose a lot of muscle mass, as the body begins to break down muscle proteins to provide energy for its most important vital functions.
However, mild calorie restriction doesn't have as dramatic an effect.
Fasting is very ineffective for weight loss as it reduces metabolic rate, the body's main consumer of calories. Weight loss is mainly due to fluid excretion and loss of muscle mass.