Original popular science article: Misconceptions about dieting and weight loss

Editor: Ma Yonglan Reviewer: Yang Pengbin

(He Zeshuai) Weight loss is the most frequently discussed topic after dinner, especially in recent years, our living standards have improved, many people have become obese, so many people have joined the weight loss army. However, many people's weight loss methods are unscientific, which will lead to problems such as not being able to lose weight, gaining weight again, and even developing diseases. Dieting has always been the seemingly simplest but most pitfall-prone weight loss method in the process of weight loss. People know very little about what is a healthy and scientific dieting method. Therefore, this popular article uses dialogues between doctors and patients to explain scientific dieting methods, clarify the misunderstandings encountered in dieting, and make weight loss scientific and easy.

Now losing weight is a common topic, and for Xiao Wang, it is also...

Today is another day to make up one's mind to lose weight! This time, Xiao Wang learned from his mistakes and even stopped eating dinner. After a month, Xiao Wang achieved "remarkable" results in losing weight, losing 10 kilograms. However, due to not eating for a long time, he developed stomach problems. When he went to the hospital, the doctor told Xiao Wang: "Dieting is good for losing weight, but you must learn to diet scientifically, otherwise, it will be very harmful to your body. Moreover, it is unhealthy to lose so much weight all at once like you did, and your body can't bear it." The doctor then said: "We do not approve of single-diet dieting, large-energy-deficit dieting, and simple dieting."

"Doctor, what is a mono-diet diet?"

"For a period of time, eating one or a few kinds of food, for example, only drinking milk a day, only eating apples a day, or only eating meat and vegetables, and some people even only eat cucumbers and tomatoes from morning to night. We must remember that we must have staple food, meat, eggs, vegetables and fruits every day, these foods can provide nutrition for our survival. Carbohydrates, proteins, dietary fiber, minerals, vitamins, fats, etc. that our human body needs, any lack of which will make us unhealthy. Remember, we can reduce the calories of food, but we must not reduce the types of food and nutrition."

“So what is a big energy gap diet?”

The doctor laughed: "It's dieting like you. You should know that men generally consume 2000 calories a day, and women at least 1600 calories. If you don't eat dinner like you do, the calories you consume are too few, far less than the calories you need, then your body will not adapt, which is very unsafe. Our body weight is controlled by two hormones, one is called brain gut peptide, and the other is leptin. After dieting, brain gut peptide is secreted vigorously, so your appetite will increase, which will stimulate you to be more hungry, which is why it is easier to overeat after dieting. The main function of leptin is to regulate body weight, reduce food intake, and inhibit the synthesis of fat cells, but it is greatly reduced after dieting, so all the food you consume is stored as fat, which is why you get fatter and fatter. So, just eat until you are 70% full every day."

"Doctor, I understand. What is simple dieting?"

"This is easy to understand. In fact, most people have this misunderstanding, which is to only diet and not exercise. Even if you only eat until you are 70% full every day, the risk of gaining weight again is still very high. Therefore, don't believe that you can regulate your metabolism by eating, let alone eat to become a thin body. In fact, exercise forces your body to redistribute the ability to eat, and combined with dieting, you will have a better weight loss effect and will not easily gain weight again."

"Thank you for your popular science. After listening to your explanation, I also understand how to lose weight scientifically."

"You're welcome. I hope you can lose weight in a healthy way."