The eyes are drawn to the variety of diets. It is difficult to evaluate all the advantages and disadvantages without examining the essence of a particular diet. The protein diet has made a leap for a long time with incredible results. What is it and is it really effective? Will it harm your health?
Benefits of a protein diet
Most of the dietary restrictions for weight loss are aimed at drastically reducing the caloric content of food, including at the expense of protein. In fact, they are only allowed to eat vegetables, some fruits and other low-calorie foods.
This is the principle of the protein diet. When the body needs energy expenditure (physical activity), it first begins to consume the last carbohydrates.
With normal physical activity, this is where the process of "burning" calories ends, there is no weight loss. It is only when the recently depleted body begins to build up "fat reserves".
A protein diet provides the least amount of light carbohydrates from foods. Under such conditions, the burning of accumulated calories begins immediately. At the same time, other cells in the body do not suffer because they have enough protein to function. Weight loss will be followed by fatigue and constant tiredness.
The benefits of a protein diet are:
- Excellent and stable result in a short time. Most protein diets are designed for a short period of time - from 2 to 4 weeks. You can lose 5 to 15 kg or more during this period, it all depends on your initial body weight.
- There is no feeling of hunger. With such a diet, blood glucose levels are stabilized, there is no increase, and appetite is controlled.
- The result is stored for a long time. Diet rules form the principles of healthy eating and have become a habit.
- Frequent and fractional nutrition "speeds up" the metabolism, which helps to lose weight.
- Protein is extremely important for the body. They are used to build cell walls, complexes to maintain immunity, necessary for normal digestion, muscle growth and regeneration of all tissues. It is difficult to show a process in which proteins are not involved in the body. Therefore, adequate protein intake does not cause excessive stress for the body.
- Protein is essential for the absorption of vitamins. Regular low-calorie diets are often accompanied by changes in the condition of the skin, hair, nails, heart disease appear, memory and endurance are reduced. A protein diet is devoid of these disadvantages.
- You can lose weight and build muscle at the same time. This cannot be done with a lack of protein. This is especially true for men.
- Many amino acids (proteins are made from them) are important for the human body. They can be obtained only with food. Lack of essential amino acids leads to various disorders in the body. There is no such thing in a protein diet.
- The product set is very diverse, you can create a delicious and lovely diet and do not just eat buckwheat or cabbage.
- The amount of carbohydrates in a protein diet is minimal, but sufficient for the efficient functioning of vital organs, such as the brain.
Disadvantages, nowhere without it
Diet is a stressful situation that requires regulation. The disadvantages of a protein diet are:
- The load on the urinary tract increases. The kidneys filter blood from the body several times a day. With the increased content of protein complexes, the tubes can be "closed", which can lead to subsequent disruption of organ function. Therefore, a contraindication to a protein diet is kidney disease.
- Blood clotting increases. As a result, the risk of thrombosis and thromboembolism increases. This diet is never recommended for people with similar problems, as well as patients with hypertension, diabetes.
- Despite the diversity of foods, the protein diet is still one-sided. This can lead to a deficiency or excess of certain elements. For example, in this case, it is recommended to take additional calcium complexes and vitamin D.
- The minimum amount of fiber can cause damage to the gastrointestinal tract. Constipation and colitis often occur. If you are prone to such diseases, it is better to choose other diets.
- Any restriction of the body to something can eventually lead to an accident, depression. Despite the relative types of food, it is the same with a protein diet.
- At the pace of daily life, it is sometimes difficult to eat frequently (up to six times a day).
Contraindications to the diet
Any restriction on food should be treated wisely. The main contraindications to a protein diet are:
- Chronic diseases, especially of the kidneys, heart, intestines. If possible, it is best to consult a dietitian or therapist. Only a doctor can thoroughly assess the situation and the possible dangers of such a diet.
- Liver disease, because it is involved in the processing of all nitrogenous compounds that come in the form of proteins.
- It is dangerous to follow a diet during infancy and lactation.
- Especially in the presence of tumor processes in a malignant nature.
Rapid weight loss diet options and features
To lose weight, you can use both the classic protein diet and the types added to certain product categories.
Just protein
Adherence to a balanced diet of a protein diet leads not only to a comfortable weight loss, but also to the normal maintenance of all physiological processes in the body.
In this case, only pure protein products are allowed. These include:
- meat (lean pork, beef, rabbit, chicken, turkey, etc. );
- eggs and low-fat dairy products (mainly cottage cheese);
- legumes;
- fish and other seafood (squid, mussels, etc. );
- You can add buckwheat, oats and soy in any form.
Protein-carbohydrate
It is distinguished by the addition of some complex carbohydrates to proteins. In addition to the main products, the diet is supplemented by:
- flakes (muesli),
- dried fruits,
- nuts,
- black bread,
- durum wheat pasta,
- honey,
- fruits.
Protein and vegetables
In addition to a protein-vegetable diet, you can eat vegetables and fruits - raw and cooked (but not fried), as well as mushrooms. This option is especially suitable for people suffering from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Sufficiently coarse fibers will stimulate intestinal motility, absorb all toxins and metabolic products.
Vitamins and protein
This type of protein diet involves fortification with vitamins. There are two possible options:
- In days (2 + 2) only protein products, then vitamins. The latter includes fruits, vegetables, berries.
- You can add vitamin supplements to protein foods throughout the day.
Basic rules of protein diet
The following guidelines should be followed to minimize the negative effects of diet.
- Drink at least 1, 5-2 liters of clean water a day. It will ensure the safety of your kidneys.
- If you have to follow a protein diet for a long time, you should take vitamin and mineral complexes.
- Do not lower your daily calorie intake below 1, 200. It is better to calculate the needs individually according to body weight.
- All dishes should be prepared in any way, but not fried. Boiling, steaming, cooking, baking is a healthy diet.
- It is advisable to minimize the amount of table salt.
- All dishes can be included in plenty of spices, use cinnamon, turmeric, but not ready-made spices that contain flavor enhancers, including mayonnaise.
Daily weekly menu
The most difficult thing in any diet is to create an interesting menu to be both beautiful and tasty. It can be roughly represented as follows:
Monday
- Breakfast: cottage cheese, tea or sugar-free coffee.
- Snack: a glass of kefir.
- Dinner: boiled chicken, steamed or baked.
- Snack: half an apple.
- Dinner: chicken with vegetables.
Tuesday
- Breakfast: low-fat and sugar-free cinnamon yogurt.
- Snack: grapefruit.
- Dinner: boiled beef with tomatoes or cucumbers.
- Snack: a glass of milk.
- Dinner: beef with cabbage.
Wednesday
- Breakfast: one egg (only proteins are allowed, then two), tea or coffee.
- Snack: orange.
- Dinner: fish cooked with vegetables.
- Snack: yogurt.
- Lunch: fish.
Thursday
- Breakfast: cinnamon yogurt.
- Snack: grapefruit.
- Dinner: chicken with asparagus.
- Snack: kefir.
- Dinner: either asparagus or chicken.
Friday
- Breakfast: an egg or just protein.
- Snack: grapefruit.
- Dinner: mushrooms with vegetables.
- Snack: cottage cheese omelet.
- Dinner: cooked vegetables.
Saturday
- Breakfast: cottage cheese with cinnamon.
- Snack: apples.
- Dinner: chicken broth with boiled vegetables.
- Snack: cooked meat with any vegetables.
- Lunch: kefir.
Sunday
- Breakfast: cottage cheese with cinnamon.
- Snack: grapefruit.
- Dinner: broth with vegetables from any lean meat.
- Snack: a slice of cheese.
- Lunch: yogurt.
Delicious and healthy recipes
Simple food is healthy. Proper nutrition recipes are very fast and easy to adapt to your daily diet. Examples of first, second and sweets can be as follows:
- Recipe 1. Curd cheesecake. Take 200 g of low-fat cottage cheese and mix it in a blender with two egg yolks, 50 g of lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Beat one apple and then 5 egg yolks separately. Mix all three ingredients. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for about 30 minutes.
- Recipe 2. Curd omelet. Beat the egg whites until foamy. Separately, do the same with cottage cheese, add chopped onion and dill, salt and pepper to taste. Mix everything, pour into a mold and bake in the oven until tender.
- Recipe 3. Soup with meatballs. Mix the chopped chicken with the chopped onion, add the pepper, bran and egg white. Make meatballs and immerse them in boiling water in a pot. Add salt, some pepper and bay leaf to the broth. Cook for 20 minutes.
- Recipe 4. Beef. Take a piece of meat, salt and pepper and lightly grease it with lemon juice. Put in the fridge for an hour. Then wrap in foil and bake for 50 minutes at 200 degrees.
- Recipe 5. Fish. Take Uskumru, undress. Brush on all sides with a mixture of pepper and salt. Fill onions and carrots. Wrap in foil and bake in the oven at 160 degrees for 30 minutes.
How to choose meat
When choosing meat for a protein diet, you should prefer the following types:
- chicken,
- beef,
- rabbit meat,
- turkey meat.
In addition, the dish should be raw meat, which you need to prepare yourself. Sausage pleases, sausages, dried and uncooked smoked products - all this is not useful. First, they are very fatty. Second, supplements and flavor enhancers stimulate the appetite. This category includes all semi-finished products.
Permitted and prohibited drinks
During the diet, attention should be paid not only to food, but also to incoming fluids. First, it often contains calories. Second, additives and preservatives can interfere with digestion and other organs.
It is useful to choose the following drinks outside of the diet:
- ordinary drinking water (should be 90% of all fluids);
- degassed mineral;
- unsweetened tea and coffee (you can add a little milk);
- herbs, dried fruits.
It is useful to consume tomato juice and celery during a protein diet. All other packaged drinks contain a lot of sugar and sweeteners. The benefits of them are minimal and there are many calories.
How much can you follow a diet
The protein diet is designed for an average of 10-12 days, but there are also extended options. For example, Ducan and others. They also belong to the protein, but are based on special nutritional principles and have important properties.
The safe duration of protein diets also depends on your health. About two weeks a year is believed to be acceptable for everyone.
Rules for quitting a protein diet
You need to follow the recommendations to get out of such a diet so that the effect after the diet is stabilized for the longest possible time and without excessive stress for the body. These will be as follows:
- Need to eat 4-5 times a day in small portions.
- Breakfast should include protein (cottage cheese, yogurt, meat).
- The last meal is three hours before bedtime.
- It is better to avoid sweet, fatty, starchy foods or just "taste".
- It is useful to try to cook properly - boil, steam, stew.
A slim figure depends 80% on lifestyle and eating habits, not on heredity, as most people believe. A protein diet is one of the most effective, safe and varied foods on the list of approved foods. It allows you to master the rules of a balanced diet, to organize your diet wisely. However, this is not a drug and you will not regain your extra habits if you do not change your habits and increase your physical activity.