Do popular detox diets help to lose weight and 'cleanse': truth and myths
'02.04.2022'
Source: Insomi.ru
Truth and lies about the so-called miracle diets, detox products and other tricks that are supposedly designed to help us lose weight, in the material Inosmi.ru.
Now is not the time to try miraculous diets designed to help us lose weight easily and quickly. Time to change your eating habits forever, learn to eat right and stop believing in ancient myths about proper nutrition: about detox, a “healthy” Paleolithic diet and uncontrolled fasting.
You can lose weight and improve your body quality with a healthy, varied, balanced diet, tailored for you by a nutritional professional and accompanied by an active and healthy lifestyle. This is how you can learn to maintain your weight, improve health, quality of life, prevent many diseases and strengthen the immune system. There are no “wonderful diets” and “magic” foods. It will be a real miracle if your body does not suffer from them. In this article, we will dispel myths about diet and weight loss.
Detox diet: does it help to lose weight and cleanse the body of toxins?
For many years we have been told that it is necessary to cleanse the body of toxins with the help of smoothies, as well as fruit and vegetable cocktails. Of course, an increased intake of fruits and vegetables is beneficial for the body and is fundamental to a balanced and healthy diet. However, you cannot compensate for indulgence in food and overeating if you consume exclusively smoothies and juices for days or even weeks. Definitely not. A full transition to smoothies can be harmful to your health. Firstly, because they usually contain a lot of sugar (natural, but still sugar). Thus, they disrupt our diet and do not help us lose weight in any way.
In addition, when smoothies are abused, in addition to sugar, the level of other substances in the body increases, for example, oxalic acid, which is found in green vegetables. Too much can cause kidney stones. A spinach salad (100-150 g spinach leaves) is not the same as a 1 kg spinach smoothie. We do not have to cleanse our kidneys and liver, they do it themselves. We can only help them with this by following a balanced diet.
Moral: to improve the diet, you can use cocktails made from fruits and vegetables with pulp and fiber. At the same time, you need to drink them not for the purpose of "detoxification", but if you really like them, introduce them into your balanced diet. But on condition that at the same time you will lead a healthy lifestyle without alcohol, but with daily exercise.
Does short sleep contribute to weight loss?
It has been known for many years that people who sleep little and miss the recovery phase of sleep often gain weight. Thus, contrary to popular belief, with a lack of sleep, we get fat. The reason for this is our genes. This is due to the fact that in people who sleep less than 7 hours or work at night, a gene called the “Period” is activated, which is associated with obesity and the risk of cardiovascular disease. In addition, if you sleep little, you will often snack, consume more junk food, which will make it harder to follow a diet. This gene is responsible for sleep schedules and seasonal mood swings.
A European study called HELENA found that in children and adolescents, the link between obesity and lack of sleep is even higher.
There are four reasons why a lack of good sleep causes weight gain:
• First, the lack of sleep increases our appetite, because the more we sleep, the more the hormone leptin is produced, which suppresses hunger; therefore, with a lack of sleep, you will eat more junk food.
• Second, more ghrelin is produced, a hormone that has the opposite effect: it increases our appetite.
On the other hand, insomnia can be caused by the so-called night meal syndrome, when instead of sleeping, we go to the kitchen and open the refrigerator.
Finally, if you don't get enough sleep, you will spend less energy. If you don't get enough sleep, you will reduce your physical activity and prefer a cozy sofa or chair over exercise.
In short: who gets up early, diet helps.
Is Stone Age Diet So Good?
One of the latest trends in healthy eating is the Paleolithic diet, which is based on the consumption of large amounts of fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish and nuts. It includes avoiding dairy products, legumes, cereals, ultra-processed foods, sugar and alcohol. In theory, the diet sounds attractive, but in practice it turns out to be inapplicable today, because in the Stone Age there were no modern diseases - the life expectancy of people did not exceed 35 years, which is why they simply did not have the opportunity to get sick.
Obviously, reducing your intake of ultra-processed foods high in sugar, salt, unhealthy fats, refined flours, and additives is good for your body, while eliminating whole grains and legumes from your diet is harmful. Fortunately for us, Paleolithic people have already suffered from this diet.
Do I need to exclude nuts from my diet to lose weight?
This is another myth, since a reasonable consumption of raw nuts contributes to less weight gain. If you consume fresh fruits at the same time, moderate consumption of nuts saturates the body with calories, fiber, healthy fats, antioxidants, vitamins and high-quality protein.
Is it worth replacing regular cane sugar?
Which sugar is better? Unfortunately, neither brown sugar, nor cane sugar, nor panel have healthy properties.
Cane sugar is a product derived from cane, as there is also sugar derived from sugar beet (it is no better or worse).
Brown sugar can be integral or not. Brown sugar itself is a white refined cane sugar, to which molasses is added, giving it a special color. Integral brown sugar is also obtained from cane, but it is not refined.
Panela is unrefined cane sugar juice. Although it contains more nutrients and minerals than non-integral white or brown sugar, it is not a useful substitute. The panel is 90% sugar, non-integral brown sugar 98%. Therefore, we can get those few nutrients that are contained in the panel from fruits, while maintaining a healthy and balanced diet and not relying on sugar.
