Diet and obesity
Obesity is associated with an increased risk of suffering from various diseases (cardiovascular, digestive, respiratory diseases, type II diabetes (non-insulin dependent), osteoarthritis, cancer, etc.). The risk of the depends to a great extent on the location of the fat, being the one that is accumulates in the abdomenn, which affects the heart the most. Currently one way to determine the distribution of fat is to measure, with a tape measure, the perimeter of the waist. According to the result, people are divided into 2 categories; the ones that have one android distribution of fat (known as "apple shape"), which means that most of the fat is accumulated in the abdominal area (stomach, chest, ...). An excess of fat in this area is associated with a greater cardiovascular risk.
In contrast, people with a distribution gynecoid From fat (known as "pear-shaped"), they accumulate fat in the hips, buttocks and thighs. This excess fat poses a greater risk of cellulite, jointsyes, ... but lower cardiovascular risk.
Causes of obesity
The most common causes of obesity are excess food and energy intake, that is, excessive calorie consumption and, to a lesser extent, endocrine disorders (hypothyroidism,…), psychological disorders (bulimia nervosa,…) and genetic factors. Treatment for obesity is based on a program of habit modification where an individualized diet is developed and combined with a practice of physical exercise. With all this, a negative energy balance is achieved, that is, the calories that have been consumed throughout the day exceed those that have been entered.
During the dietary treatment erroneous eating habits must be modified and new, healthier ones must be established to maintain long-term weight loss. A common mistake is to continue to drastically limit calorie intake and with little variety of foods, since they are difficult to maintain over time and lead to nutritional deficiencies. In addition, these diets do not teach correct eating habits and cannot be maintained over time, as a consequence, it is usually gain weight abruptly.
Diet to combat obesity
Below we detail a series of and a table that serves as a guide to reduce fat from the daily diet.
It is recommended to follow an individualized diet, adjusted to the needs of each individual
- Eat right: Five meals a day, do not eat between meals, eat with small bites and chew slowly. Splitting the food throughout the day avoids prolonged fasting and the feeling of emptiness in the stomach. Therefore, pecking between meals is avoided.
- A recommended fiber-rich diet (vegetables, legumes, whole grains, fresh fruit) and low in fat
- Control the amount of sugars Simple (sugar, honey, jam, chocolate, pastry, packaged juice, ...). Substitute sweetener (saccharin, aspartame) for sugar or honey.
- Cut down on food that contain many calories and few nutrients such as snacks, chips, sugary drinks, ... Replace sugary drinks such as bitter, cola, tonic, lemonade, ... with its Light version
- It is recommended to have on hand healthy snacks such as chopped vegetables (celery, carrot, ...), fruit, low-fat dairy,….
- Eat daily skim dairy (fresh cheese, skimmed yogurt and skimmed or semi-skimmed milk) and avoid whole foods (cream, fatty cheese, butter, yogurt, ice cream,…) rich in saturated fat.
- Choose preferably the leanest meats (chicken and turkey without skin, rabbit, lean beef, beef tenderloin, pork loin, horse, ...) and remove any visible fat before cooking
- Consume more fish than meat and a minimum of 3-4 servings of fish per week.
- Choose culinary techniques with Low fat (iron, oven, papillote, steam, boiled and cooked) and avoid fried, battered and stews.
- Steaming with the pressure cooker allows cooking with little water and preserves all the properties of the food.
- When making stews, prepare them in advance. Let them cool in the fridge and remove the fat layer with a spoon or spatula. In this way it preserves the flavor with hardly any fat
- To cook fish, wrap them in aluminum foil (papillote), so they cook in their own juice, without adding fat.
- Drink a minimum of 1.5l of water daily.
- The dinners should always be more light. The secret to losing weight and staying stable at your weight lies in this shot of the day. At night energy expenditure decreases and the body uses less energy.
- It is recommended to perform physical activity daily. Physical activity helps maintain muscle tone and lose weight.
- Putting yourself in the hands of one will also help you eat well and improve your health.
(Updated at Apr 14 / 2024)