Do you want to lose 7 kg in a week? Dietitian: “It’s a nightmare for internal organs”

The prospect of an important event such as a wedding, New Year’s Eve party or going on a long-awaited vacation makes some people want to get a slim figure almost immediately. To achieve this, they take pills that accelerate fat burning or go on restrictive diets. What does our body say about this?

What diets guarantee quick weight loss?

Diets that guarantee weight loss in a short time include: ballerina diet – supposedly guarantees a reduction of 10 kg in 10 days, i.e. 1 kilogram per day. For the first two days, you only drink coffee and tea. Only on the third and fourth day you can eat something – it is skimmed dairy products. On the fifth and sixth days you can include potatoes in the menu, on the seventh and eighth – lean meat, and on the tenth and tenth – vegetables.

The Norwegian diet is also very restrictive (promising loss of 10 kg in 2 weeks), based on eating eggs and grapefruits. Losing 10 kg in 13 days is assumed by the Copenhagen diet, which assumes eating 3 meals a day, of which the morning one is coffee with a sugar cube (sometimes also with toast).

Is it possible to lose 7 kg in a week?

“You can lose weight, of course, but at what cost?“– asks dietitian Patrycja Pawelec rhetorically. “The above-mentioned diets deceive us with quick results. They are most often chosen by people who do not think about the consequences. And these can be very serious.”

The expert adds that healthy weight loss involves losing 0.5 kg to 1 kg per weekwith a well-balanced diet and appropriate physical exercise.

We cannot lose fat tissue in 10 days, we only lose muscle mass and water. Hence the quick weight reduction effect. However, after the diet ends, the kilograms come back at an inexorable pace, sometimes with a vengeance. This is the so-called the yoyo effect – explains Patrycja Pawelec.

What happens to the body when we follow restrictive diets?

According to the dietitian, following restrictive diets will not only not bring us closer to our dream slim figure, but may ruin our health.

They lead to disruption of metabolism and hormonal balance. In women, it also causes dysregulation of the menstrual cycle. As a result of sudden weight loss, internal organs also suffer. Our liver, which is responsible for breaking down fatty acids and excreting them from the body, is primarily exposed – says Pawelec.

If we lose weight too quickly and then suddenly gain weight, spontaneous fat loss occurs. And while external fat tissue is not so aggressive, visceral tissue (i.e. visceral fat, around the belly) is very pro-inflammatory. The consequence may be insulin resistance and hormonal disorders. Therefore, losing weight should always be a well-thought-out process, preferably consulted with a specialist.