Which diet is best to lose weight?

The answer to this question has long been sought. The history of searching for diets is colorful: many doctors, cities, professions, and food combinations have made their name in the international spectrum of diets.

The origin of the word diet is also interesting. Diet comes from the Greek word ‘dietia’ which means lifestyle. After all, we each have our own way of life, our own diet, of course. Therefore, each of us should have a diet bearing our own name - we have developed it ourselves as a result of decades of lifestyle!

Of course, many people do not even think that they are following any actual diet, but when the place for change comes, they should start losing weight or paying attention to their food choices due to blood pressure, diabetes or cholesterol, and it is difficult to change habits. Habits have evolved over a long period of time, shaped into their own lives to fit, be comfortable, enjoyable. We don’t accidentally eat what we eat, but because we like that kind of food. That’s why changing is so hard; who would want to change something that has felt familiar for years and that has given pleasure for so long.

Herein lies the difficulty of starting a diet - and especially maintaining it. Nothing other than a diet bearing one's own name can be followed for a long time. Thus, the results of diets are often short-lived. Indeed, it has been found that any diet works just as well if it is followed, and all diets work equally poorly if they are discontinued.

Weight loss is best when the diet is tailored to your personal preferences

In this work, the food diary serves as a great help. Everyone can observe the bottlenecks in their own diary - which becomes the most useless energy - and leave them less. In addition, you can check in the food diary that eating is regular. Accurate eating means eating often enough but not bunny all the time. Rest and breaks in digestion are important for the body, so even in the name of regularity, you don't have to eat all the time. Not only does the attentive and open-minded lighter see the foods in his diary that need to be reduced, he also notices what needs to be added to the diet. There should often be more vegetables, fruits and berries. Especially on the vegetable side, we Finns still have something to learn. A handful of six is ​​a good minimum goal! However, this will come as a surprising amount of energy - give it a try.

Reported by the study

A study looking at different weight loss diets was published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. More than 300 overweight people participated in the study. Rarely, 86% of the subjects were men. Usually the ratio is just the opposite. Subjects received dietary guidance and were randomized to three different diets. One-third followed a low-carbohydrate diet for two years, a third for a standard low-fat diet, and a third for a Mediterranean diet.

In a low-carbohydrate diet, subjects initially ate about 120g of carbohydrates a day, about 40% of their total energy intake, after a stricter carbohydrate restriction. So there was no Atkins diet. Carbohydrates were eaten about twice as much as Atkins. They got 39% fat and 21% protein energy. Fat and protein were recommended to be predominantly of vegetable origin.

The low-fat diet was instructed to eat grains, vegetables, fruits, and to limit the snacking of fatty foods and delicacies. The percentage of carbohydrates in energy was 51%, fat 30%, protein 19%. Thus, in this case, the low-fat was not low-fat, but rather normal-fat. The quality of eating did not change much at all, but the main aim was to reduce the amount of eating.

In the Mediterranean diet, 50% of carbohydrates, 33% of fat and 19% of protein were obtained from energy. The diet recommended eating plenty of vegetables, a little red meat, replacing chicken and fish. Particular attention was paid to fat quality, and subjects were advised to use olive oil and eat a handful of nuts daily.

The most effective effect of the Mediterranean diet

The results were interesting. After two years, energy intake had decreased the most with a low-carbohydrate and low-fat diet, about 550 kcal of the amount of energy before weight loss. Those on a Mediterranean diet reportedly ate about 400 kcal less than before. Weight loss was observed in all groups: those on the low-carbohydrate (4.7 kg) and Mediterranean (4.4 kg) diets and the lowest on the low-fat diet (2.9 kg). However, the low-carbohydrate diet was the most discontinued. Fat values ​​became most favorable in those on a Mediterranean and low-carbohydrate diet, with the Mediterranean diet having the most positive effect on blood sugar. Millennium Intermediate