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Although the great world of nutrition is changing thanks to the most modern scientific research, there are still many false beliefs related to body weight. Like that one low-calorie diet it alone is enough to lose weight and maintain a good state of health or that you perform physical activity you authorize us to eat more food than we should.
Here are the most common myths:
The low calorie diet is the only one that makes you lose weight
No, count the calories it does not help to lose weight. “Low-calorie diets – says the prof. Pier Luigi Rossi, specialist in nutrition sciences and preventive medicine in Arezzo and author of the book ‘From calories to molecules. The new horizon of weight control ‘(Aboca) are both ineffective and dangerous because they can provoke deficiencies of micronutrients indispensable. A salad of cereals and vegetables and a glass of beer can have the same number of calories, but the molecules contained in the two foods have very different metabolic effects ”. To lose weight, it is more useful, healthy and scientific to look at the molecules contained in food. “A new science, called nutrigenomics, has shown that some nutrient molecules present in the foods we bring to the table have the ability to act on the DNA fat cells and steer the body towards a weight loss modality ”, adds the doctor. “Fruits, vegetables and fish they are not only very healthy products of nature and rich in extraordinary properties for our well-being, but they represent real foods with a slimming action. The only ones able to act on the genetic heritage of our cells and guarantee one effective and lasting weight loss over time. Ensure, in your diet, five portions of vegetables a day and eat fish at least three times a week ”.
It is not true that losing weight is useless because sooner or later all the weight lost will be regained
“Ignoring or underestimating the metabolic consequences of excess weight is wrong – write the experts of Crea nella Guidelines for healthy eating (Rev. 2018) – while trying to tackle the problem is still appropriate and advisable. However, it is true that to resolve it permanently it is essential change your eating habits and their lifestyle, also to avoid falling back into the same mistakes made previously. It is all too obvious that if at the end of a weight loss you start the previous habits again, you buy back in a short time the weight lost and perhaps something more “.
“A condition often experienced by those who follow low calorie diets”, Adds prof. Pier Luigi Rossi. “Another weak point of this method, useless precisely because the more caloric intake is reduced, the more the body increases its energy yield. In fact, when you finish the diet and go back to eating normally, the body is left with a greater load of energy than accumulates in the form of fat“. The secret – writes the author in his book – is to move from a low-calorie diet with a limited duration in time to a new dietary lifestyle where the precious molecules that make up a food are the protagonists. The main ones are oxygen, carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, vitamins, minerals, water, fiber food, molecules active on DNA (gene modulators).
Molecular quality of foods, that is their different composition in nutritional principles, conditions the cellular metabolism, the hormonal profile, the gene modulation of a person, therefore his body weight and his state of health.
It is not true to say that since obesity can be genetically predetermined we cannot do anything about it
Genetics certainly plays a role, but when we observe that in the same family the members are all in excess weight everyone is likely to be exposed to the same bad eating and lifestyle habits. “There family predisposition? It certainly exists – we read in the book by prof. Rossi-, but the crucial role is played by lifestyles. In the ‘game’ against the balance that millions of Italians challenge every day, the power supply plays the most important part. Even the most modern scientific research affirms it: the keys to living longer and better depend on the 50% from lifestyle and nutrition, 30% from genetics inherited from our parents and the remaining 20% from the National Health System. It is above all we who influence our health and the duration of our life. Everyday”.
It is not true that if we get some exercise we can or should eat more
They do not exist miraculous exercises and above all we must not overestimate the surplus of energy expenditure that the exercise itself is able to ensure. Good physical activity – reads the Guidelines – must serve to preserve and tone lean mass and normalize blood parameters (glycemia, cholesterol, etc.). “To increase lean muscle mass, and therefore the metabolically active cells – advises prof. Pier Luigi Rossi – it is necessary to plan and perform muscle resistance exercises that involve the main muscles of the human body (arms, trunk, legs, abdomen) through the use of rubber bands, weights or mechanical resistances or with exercises performed in the gym. To lose weight, you need to plan and execute aerobic activity such as exercise bike, treadmill, step exercises, bicycle, running. But also climbing stairs or walking. Equipped with a heart rate monitor (a tool that can be purchased in sporting goods stores), during the aerobic movement it is necessary to carry the heartbeat above 100 beats per minute: in this physiological condition, the organism ‘burns’ body fat because it consumes more oxygen ”.
Food, therefore, is not just energy. And body weight is influenced by several factors, not just by genetics: first of all by the daily diet. “To keep fit and healthy – adds the expert – it is important learn to choose your food, eat healthily and with a healthy pleasure, free from false beliefs that have influenced our eating style for decades, contributing to the generation of metabolic diseases, unfortunately become common metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure and atherosclerosis. Finally, becoming ‘aware’ in choosing what you bring to the table also allows us to rediscoverancient link with food“, Concludes prof. Rossi.
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