Every Monday, we find the nutrition chronicle of Dr. Binetou Cheikh Seck, dietician-nutritionist at the Cabinet dietetic nutridéal in Dakar, Senegal. Today, she tells us about the habits not to take when you want to lose weight.
Many men and women seek to lose weight for aesthetic or health reasons, how do they go about it?
Unfortunately, many do it wrong by relying on information found on the internet, social networks, magazines or the opinions of people around them. The consequence of poor weight loss methods is often failure, eating disorders and health problems.
What are these bad practices?
First of all, it is necessary to avoid making a restrictive diet, that is to say eliminating one or more families of foods essential to the proper functioning of the body. There are many examples of diets: high protein diet, cabbage soup diet, etc. This will surprise many, but the scientific evidence is quite clear: restrictive diets – and especially repeated diets – lead to nutrient deficiencies, loss of muscle and bone mass, with kidney and heart risk. Plus, diets are so frustrating that you can’t stick with them long term. As soon as you stop the diet, not only do you regain the weight you may have lost, but you gain more: hence the famous “yoyo effect”.
What else should you avoid when you want to lose weight healthily?
You must avoid eliminating starchy foods (cereals, potatoes, attiéké, beans, etc.) because this leads to strong hunger and especially strong cravings for sugar – as well as a very rapid resumption of weight as soon as you eat starchy foods. In the same vein, it is necessary to avoid eliminating fat because, among other things, it is counterproductive: thinning is slowed down because of the decrease in hormone synthesis.
Is it appropriate to skip one or more meals to lose weight?
No, it’s one more method to banish (like intermittent fasting): you shouldn’t skip meals when you’re hungry because it slows down your metabolism and you catch up with the next meal. So instead of getting thinner, we get fatter.
What about herbal teas or fat-burning tablets?
There is no food that makes you lose weight (or lemon, cider vinegar or ginger). So you should avoid herbal teas and so-called “slimming” tablets because, at best, they have no effect, at worst, they are dangerous for your health, especially for the liver and the kidneys.