The vicious circle of diets

Achieving a balanced diet means:

1. Quality : the diet must provide a variety of foods, in order to find the different essential nutrients, distributed in various foods.
2. Quantity : The energy ration must make it possible to compensate for energy expenditure and cover the needs of our body
3. During the day, there must be several food intakes ranging from 3 to 4 meals in order to distribute the intake.

Nutrients	% Daily Energy	Typical ration
Proteins	11 to 15%	100 g ➔ 400 kcal
Lipids	35 to 40%	80 g ➔ 720 kcal
Carbohydrates	50 to 55%	350 g ➔ 1400 kcal
Total	2520 calories

In fact, our body will use carbohydrates first, then proteins and lastly lipids. Thus, if the intake is too rich in simple sugar, it will use it first, and will therefore not draw on lipids, which will then be stored, hence weight gain!

It is therefore advisable to respect the recommended energy percentages as closely as possible: your body will then use what it needs, without unnecessary storage.

The vicious circle of diets : you should not think about diet right away if you are overweight (here we mean diets that are restrictive or low-calorie). If you want to lose weight, the targeted loss must be realistic (0.5 to 1kg per week). If the weight loss is too rapid, the weight regain will be just as rapid, or even greater than the weight initially lost: this is the yoyo effect .

How is this explained? During the period of deprivation, the body's metabolism slows down.

If the person ever breaks down, or suddenly stops the diet, their metabolism being slow, they will not be able to use the entire quantity of food ingested, which will then be stored, leading to weight gain.

So, rapid weight loss is not recommended anyway because it can lead to:

• Fatigue
• Headache
• Heart problems
• Anemia
• Menstrual disruption
• Slowed metabolism, leading to long-term weight gain
• Muscle loss

But that's not all ! Release of toxins, increase in oxidative stress, disruption of the intestinal microbiota...the harmful consequences are numerous.

What can you do to eat better without restrictions?

The principle of a balanced diet is initially based on the choice of foods.

We must therefore think about what we could add to our meal (more vegetables, fiber, drink lots of water, etc.) rather than forbidding certain foods. Did you know ? It is proteins that allow us to be satisfied quickly, and provide a feeling of satiety that lipids do not have.

	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Lipids
Satiation	+++	++	±
Suppression of hunger	+++	+++	±
Energy intake; (kcal/g)	4	4	9
% of daily energy intake	+	++	+++
Storage capacity	±	+	+++
Self-regulation (ability to stimulate oxidation in the event of excess intake)	+++	++	0

Nothing new: the best diet is the one that doesn't cause frustration, that doesn't constrain you to the exact calorie, and that still provides that eating pleasure.

It would be a question of becoming aware today of what we consume, of being an actor in our health!