Taking care of oneself is part of any person’s life, whether it happens due to health, vanity, a new lifestyle, life quality or other reasons. People look for getting motivated though a new diet. All types of diets end up getting famous and used by everyone. Some types of diets stick to food restrictions, and they might not always be the most indicated ones.
Taking care of their health makes people feel stimulated, in search of a good diet. It’s worth mentioning that a healthy diet is essential to any diet menu that brings benefits or more positive results.
The way is to avoid very restrictive options.
Popular diets aren’t widely known by accident. Whether you want to lose weight, have a better body condition or an improved health, they offer the advantage of granting you some benefits.
1. Ravenna Diet
The Ravenna diet is divided into two phases: Reduction and maintenance. During the first moments, there is a restriction of carbs and weight loss, which lasts accordingly to each body’s metabolism.
The maintenance period lasts for the rest of your life, by reintroducing all the foods while supervised by a professional that will ensure your food reeducation.
Advantages
The maintenance phase doesn’t rule out any food groups, and it adds food that consists of wheat and refined sugar, easily recognize by its carbs.
It’s preferable that you consume complex carbs, which are rich in fibers and able to improve the intestinal function, besides providing more satisfaction.
There are therapeutic groups that offer psychological help for people that adhere to this diet, what might an advantage or a disadvantage. In case a person has a very busy life, they might not be able to attend every meeting.
Disadvantages
During the restriction period, you should only ingest 800 calories a day. The World Health Organization recommends that the minimum value of calories that should be ingested is 1.000 calories a day.
Even though it might be difficult, there’s a possibility of feeling tempted to mess up the diet. Besides that, there is also a variety of recipes that demands time to be prepared, which might not fit everyone’s routine
There are four meals throughout the day and there are strict rules to follow for each food that must be ingested.
2. Dukan Diet
There is an old version of this diet, as well as a new one. Both of them have a method created by the French doctor Pierre Dukan, who says that a diet needs to be based on proteins, with a significant reduction of carbs and fruits, greens and vegetables.
Advantages
Proteins are important nutrients that need to be ingested. They are part of the digestive process and contribute to make the satisfaction feeling last even more.
Some great and easy options can be found. The consumption of protein helps maintain the body’s lean mass.
Disadvantages
The amount of saturated fat and ingested cholesterol is high, which contributes to increasing the level of the so-called bad cholesterol.
Since it’s a very restrictive diet, it doesn’t allow vitamins, mineral salts and fibers. The low ingestion of carbs might lead to a lack of energy and constipation, due to the low levels of fiber that are consumed.
Some people experience a greater discomfort in their stomach, since the protein have a slower digestive process.
3. Paleolithic diet
The tip for this diet it strictly following it, by eating red meats, seeds, nuts and carbs contained in these foods.
Advantages
It absorbs a great amount of antioxidants, fibers and vitamins, and a low ingestion of salt.
You need to change your lifestyle, by quitting smoking and alcoholism and practicing physical activities.
Disadvantages
Removing milk and dairy products out of your diet might cause a lack of calcium. Restrict options often makes socializing hard, thus making it hard to stick to them while going out.
4. DASH Diet
This diet’s goal is to contribute to help people with high blood pressure problems. It offers a list of balanced food and doesn’t prohibit any specific ingredient.
Advantages
This diet helps reducing the sodium amount that is ingested, following an acceptable pattern of up to 2.300 milligrams a day, while a reduced diet works with the amount of 1.500 milligrams, which is the World Health Organization’s recommendation.
The food chosen for this diet are rich in nutrients that are able to lower the arterial pressure, leading to result that will show up in approximately two weeks.
It also allows a moderate consumption of sweets. By restricting the consumption of sugar for a long time, people tend to be more vulnerable to mess up the diet, easily losing control when taking the first bite.
Besides that, this diet is rich in fibers and helps reducing the cholesterol levels, causing weight loss.
Disadvantages
It’s important to highlight that the DASH diet isn’t part of a weight loss plan, therefore, the person can lose a few pounds by combining healthier meals and snacks, which are less caloric.
The DASH diet consists of 2.000 calories a day. The weight loss can be adjusted according to individual circumstances, which can vary from one body to another.
This diet’s goal it to lower the arterial pressure. For those who already show a predisposition to low blood pressure, there is a possibility that they show signs of dizziness and discomfort.
5. Cabala Diet
This diet’s menu consists of taking away for 22 days any kind of meat, alcoholic drinks, processed food, gluten and dairy products.
This way, the menu corresponds to 80% carbs, 10% fat and 10% proteins.
Advantages
Processed foods are prohibited and the person should not eat food that is rich in sodium, fat and sugar.
There’s a restriction towards alcoholic beverages, since they don’t contribute to the organism and are only responsible for a high quantity of calories.
Gluten is also restricted, and some foods are eliminated, mostly the ones who contains wheat flour and are highly caloric. It’s important to highlight that these restrictions are pretty evident, and must be adhered to with the help of a professional.
Disadvantages
There isn’t a plan for the aftermath of the 22 days, what causes a lack of instructions.
This diet isn’t well balanced, nutritiously speaking. It has a high amount of carbs when compared to fat and proteins, which are in low amounts.
It’s highly possible that a person will give up on this diet due to its restrictions, and there’s a possibility of a fat rebound effect. It’s recommended that you seek professional help, in order to find the most adequate diet to supply the protein needs of your body.
6. Genetic diet or DNA diet
It’s really difficult to establish specific advantage, since it’s something unique for each person. The diet may combine different ingredients and use the ones that are more helpful for that person’s organism.
The major disadvantage is that the exams that identify what the body needs are expensive, and they don’t offer scientific proof.
7. Low-carb diet
This diet requires a lower amount of carbs, as well as proteins and fat.
Advantages
There is fast loss of weight, after all, the consumption of carbs is limited.
This same limitation reinforces the help towards serious health conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular diseases.
Protein-based diets offer more satisfaction after each meal.
Disadvantages
Losing muscle and fat makes the metabolism slower. Most foods have carbs and it’s effective to take this kinds of foods off the menu, leaving few options.
8. Ketogenic diet
This diet is based on ketosis, a process of breaking cells and liver fat, which are transformed into energy.
Advantage
The fast weight loss makes the individual keep their lean mass, what doesn’t happen in the low-carb diets such as the Dukan diet and the Atkins diet. Ketosis reduces hunger and helps burnings fat.
Disadvantages
The problem with this diet is that it’s very restrictive and some people don’t have the ideal profile for it. It’s hard to stick to this diet. It requires a strong sense of discipline not to eat anything that isn’t recommended, so the ketosis process doesn’t get cut off.
9. Mediterranean diet
A diet that consists of fish, seafood, olive oil, nuts and wine.
Advantages
The menu is an invitation for Brazilian ingredients. This diet is effective against heart diseases, high cholesterol and hypertension, since it reduces the amount of saturated fat that is consumed.
Dairy products are present in this diet’s menu and they are rich in calcium. Wine must be consumed in moderation.
Disadvantages
Pay attention to how many caloric foods you consume, such as olive oil, nuts and even wine, so the diet doesn’t cause the opposite effect.
10. Atkins Diet
It was first created by Doctor Atkins, and it’s a very restrictive diet that doesn’t allow butter or olive oil.
Advantage
As previously mentioned, the high amount of protein in this diet satisfies the hunger.
Disadvantages
Proteins contain a high rate of fat and worsen cardiovascular conditions and the levels of cholesterol in the blood. This diet is very restrictive towards vegetables.
These two restrictions combined can cause dizziness, weakness, faintness and constipation, due to the low amount of fibers that is ingested.
11. Vegan diet
This diet doesn’t include any animal foods or anything related.
Advantages
It’s an aggressive lifestyle not to eat any kind of meat, avoiding animal foods. The higher consumption of fruits, greens and vegetables will make up for the proteins that are ingested through animal foods.
Disadvantage
If you can’t follow it strictly, the non-consumption of meat won’t do any wonders and might even cause lack of B12 vitamin and iron, causing anemia. Ideally, the individual needs to seek professional help and use supplementation.
12. Diets that eliminate gluten and/or lactose
For those who are lactose intolerant or gluten intolerant, taking them off their diets might be a good choice to have better life quality.
Those who doesn’t benefit from that might benefit from the weight loss, since taking away these two ingredients take away everything that makes you gain weight.
It’s important to mention that there isn’t any proof towards the effectiveness of this diet regarding people who aren’t lactose or gluten intolerant.
By cutting off food that contain lactose, the individual might restrict their food groups for the health.
The diets mentioned above are followed by many people, but this doesn’t mean that they should be adhered to without moderation or medical guidance.
It’s necessary to seek professional help and information, combined with attitudes that are a must have for those who want to start having these new lifestyles.
