Crash diet principles

The basis of extreme nutrition systems is the principle of a critical reduction in the number of calories consumed. Following a crash diet, you need to limit the daily number of calories consumed as much as possible. It does not matter in what way the daily calorie reduction will be carried out (by the use of the limited number of food products, portion sizes, etc), the main thing is that the calorie intake of the food consumed does not exceed 800 kcal per day. In other words, any of the crash diets is a strict diet for quick weight loss.

These methods include:

• mono-diets;

• vegan and super vegan nutritional systems;

• diets that require the use of a minimum set of simple foods (2-3);

• weight loss techniques – based on reducing the number of meals and the size of a portion (for example, “5 tablespoons”);

• drinking diet, etc.

Method Lyle McDonald

One of the most popular crash diets is considered as a diet system for rapid weight loss, developed by the famous American nutritionist, sports physiologist Lyle MacDonald. This is a low-carb extreme diet, the rigidity, and duration of which are calculated according to a special table, based on the category to which an overweight person belongs. There are 3 such categories, depending on the amount of fat on the body. 

The main principles of the technique:

1. Interchangeable nutrients are completely excluded from the diet, that is, those that the human body can synthesize itself are fast carbohydrates;

2. Essential nutrients must be ingested with food. These are proteins and omega-3 fatty acids;

3. Fast carbohydrates should be replaced with slow carbohydrates (rice, oatmeal) and fiber (non-starchy vegetables, unsweetened fruits, and legumes);

4. The amount of protein per day is calculated according to a special table, based on lean muscle mass;

5. As a required portion of fat, Lyle MacDonald recommends taking 6 g of fish oil or a tablespoon of flaxseed oil daily;

6. 1-2 liters of cold water must be drunk every day to stimulate metabolic processes;

7. Do not forget about electrolytes: sodium, calcium, potassium, magnesium salts. They need to be constantly obtained with food or as part of mineral supplements;

8. You need to take food 3-6 times a day according to your routine.

Benefits and harm of crash diets

From a medical point of view, it becomes obvious that crash diets rather harm the body than improve it. It will help to lose a large amount of excess fat in an extremely short period, but no one knows what such a rush in weight loss can lead to. Such food systems severely limit the body in getting useful micronutrients that are not able to replace even by multivitamin complexes.

How to create a daily menu?

The crash diet according to the method of losing weight should be based on your eating habits. For example, if you are going to lose weight on a yeast-free system, you will have to give up all the flour products you ate before. You can eat meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, low-fat dairy products. It would be much better if you cook, stew, bake, or steam dishes with a minimum amount of oil. If you choose, for example, a yogurt diet, the basis of your diet in the next two weeks should be non-fat natural yogurt, vegetables, fruits, and a little brown bread.

Would you take a chance of following a crash diet?


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