A low-calorie diet is one that limits the amount of calories consumed to a maximum of 1,500 a day. Studies have shown that low-calorie diets can cause weight loss in obese patients by about 2 kg per week. Such weight loss can quickly improve obesity-related health, including diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Low-calorie diets, however, carry many health risks and, like most diets, have a success rate of just 5%. When using a low-calorie diet, the body does not receive enough energy and begins to save fat by burning fewer calories. In addition, when you reduce the amount of calories consumed, your brain receives signals to eat more, your appetite is stimulated and you have a feeling of hunger.
Low-calorie diets cause weight loss in the first few weeks and months after starting a diet. However, most of the lost weight is not lost fat. This is because low-calorie diets do not provide enough energy to meet the basic functions of the body, such as breathing, circulation and digestion, etc. To deliver fuel to stay alive, the body breaks down muscle tissue, which is easier to convert into energy than fat.
As a result, a low-calorie diet reduces the amount of lean muscle tissue in the body, which causes a domino effect, which involves slowing down metabolism. Muscle tissue is metabolically active, which means that the more lean muscular tissue a person has, the more calories he burns. Reducing lean muscle tissue also reduces the body’s ability to burn fat.
When you finally lose weight and start to eat normally, your body will no longer be able to burn calories at a rate like before the diet because you now have less muscle mass. The result of losing lean muscle mass and the resulting weight gain is called the yo-yo effect. Many people regain their lost weight, and start a different diet, which plunges them further into losing muscle tissue.
What is the solution for permanent weight loss?
To lose weight effectively, you need to consume enough energy to burn fat and eat the right foods to keep your lean body fat. A reasonable balance of a healthy diet and moderate exercise is more effective in achieving permanent weight loss than a low calorie diet.
