The world of interests of a modern person cannot be imagined without all kinds of diets that promise the return of the once lost harmony. Most — without any special results — adhere, from time to time, to a strict nutrition system. But there are those for whom the battle for the elegance of the figure ends in a hospital bed.
The editors of estet-portal.com decided to get Olga KOPYLOVA's opinion on the modern approach to diets, how to lose weight correctly, what are the possible consequences of improper dieting.
Olga Kopylova — dietitian, candidate of medical sciences, host of the program "Advise, Doctor", author of the books "You can't forgive losing weight", "120 to 80. A book about how to defeat hypertension, not reduce pressure"
In the footsteps of the girl Twiggy, or Where does anorexia come from
— Olga Sergeevna, after the legendary model Twiggy appeared on the podium in the 60s, whose weight was only 40 kg, most of the fair half strives to match her. And in the means of achievement they stop at nothing.
OK The stereotypes that are imposed on women from the pages of glossy magazines and television programs try to convince them that thinness is beauty, and a woman should be an ephemeral creation without any roundness whatsoever. The consciousness of this causes many girls to refuse food. The hunger game begins, which very often leads to anorexia.
The disease is complex and is expressed in a voluntary hunger strike, as a rule, because of the desire to lose weight. First, a person tries to limit himself in food, and then, when the point of no return is passed and the body's strength is undermined, he cannot even swallow a spoonful of porridge. And since the digestive organs are not able to cope with the direct function, they begin to feed him through a tube or, even worse, — through a vein.
In this regard, the example of the famous figure skater Yulia Antipova is indicative. Her diagnosis «nervosa nervosa» was taken to an Israeli clinic for treatment. With a body mass index of 11, she was on the verge of life and death. She had to be fed through a vein, parenterally. True, it was not the desire to have model parameters of the figure that led her to such a result, but the high bar set before her as before an athlete.
What threatens anorexia:
• difficulty digesting food;
• increased weakness and feeling of chills;
• the presence of arrhythmias, muscle spasms;
• increased trauma;
• imbalance of electrolytes, vital acids and salts;
• women have menstrual irregularities.
Sometimes other diseases are accompanied by anorexia. Among them — malignant tumors, diseases of the digestive system, various infections.
Certain medications can also cause anorexia. It can develop against the background of taking antidepressants or psychostimulants, etc.
— Does anorexia only affect teenage girls?
OK Not at all. Hormonal changes in the body are of great importance for the female psyche. Therefore, the development of anorexia is observed both in the pubertal and pre-menopausal periods.
Among those who go on conscious fasting, there are many women who have crossed the half-century mark and thus strive to keep the elusive youth. But the thing is that such food restrictions for women after 45 years old are unacceptable.
— Why?
OK Diet can upset the delicate balance in the body. And this, in turn, can provoke irreversible changes and many serious diseases, including cancer.
Studies by American scientists have proven that for women after 50 years of age, the danger is not so much low-calorie diets as stopping them. The return to normal eating is accompanied by additional weight gain. And this threatens the development of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.
Another risk group is young mothers who seek to regain their shape after childbirth. They go on strict diets, work out to exhaustion in the gym and often bring themselves to cachexia, deep exhaustion, which manifests itself both on the bodily and physical levels, which leads to the destruction of the whole organism.
By the way, if you don’t catch yourself in time and start treating the patient with anorexia, then there is a risk that sooner or later he will develop alimentary dystrophy.
Hunger is not an aunt: nutritional dystrophy develops due to malnutrition
— Probably, residents of poor countries are more susceptible to alimentary dystrophy?
OK Alas, today it develops among those who live in civilized countries, but are subject to those unfortunate diets that lead to such a deplorable result.
Today, many adherents of a healthy diet suggest controlling their diet so that it does not exceed 1700 kilocalories per day. That is how much the prisoners of the concentration camps received and stretched out on such a ration for two to three months. Of course, the proposed diets also include the necessary complex of vitamins, proteins, but their observance is associated with the risk of alimentary dystrophy.
This disease, which is characterized by deficiencies in mass and body index (more than 20 and 16 percent of the norm, respectively), develops gradually and begins with euphoria. A person experiences tremendous relief from the lost weight and strives to lose weight even more. Consciously eating less food, he brings himself to an astheno-anorexic state, when he is unable to take food in the usual volume. If at this stage you do not consult a doctor, then the person may die. A weakened immune system cannot protect him from infections or cardiovascular disease.
How to recognize a person suffering from nutritional dystrophy:
• eats no more than twice a day, eating 100 — 150 g of food per meal;
• excludes dairy and meat products, cereals from the diet. Gets by with "quick" carbohydrates (cookies, chocolates, etc.);
• characterized by dry skin, brittle nails and hair;
• suffers from hypotension and bradycardia, which turns into tachycardia at the slightest exertion;
• complains of frequent urination.
Hungry life leads to hypoproteinemia, when the level of protein in the plasma reaches a minimum. And this, in turn, leads to the depletion of various tissues and organs. Polyendocrine insufficiency develops, from which, first of all, the endocrine glands (thyroid gland, parathyroid glands, pituitary gland, adrenal glands) suffer.
There are three stages of nutritional dystrophy.
Signs of the first stage of alimentary dystrophy:
• frequent urination (up to 20 times a day), sometimes accompanied by pain;
• increased appetite, cravings for salty foods;
• thirst.
Signs of the second stage of alimentary dystrophy:
• muscle weakness;
• swelling of the legs;
• decrease in body temperature;
• increased appetite and thirst.
Signs of the third stage of alimentary dystrophy:
• sudden exhaustion of the body, accompanied by anemia and weakness;
• heart and / or liver failure;
• hypotension;
• violation of patency in the upper gastrointestinal tract;
• the development of tumors, including malignant ones;
• acidosis (difficulty removing organic acids).
— Obviously, the third stage of alimentary dystrophy is the most dangerous?
OK Yes, first of all, because acidosis can lead to a starvation coma. And the weakness of the body makes it mortally vulnerable to any infections. Such a patient requires special medical care. He is unable to cope on his own.
Why would a prince need a peacock feather, and a bulimic — two fingers?
— But after all, many people prefer not to deny themselves food, but to remove it with the help of vomiting…
OK Yes, this technique was still used by ancient princes during plentiful feasts. In order not to offend the host and continue the meal, the guests, heavy from food, went out into the courtyard and with the help of peacock feathers freed their stomach from the contents, which allowed them to return to the table and continue the process of gluttony.
Today, those who are afraid to get better get rid of food in this way. And first of all, those suffering from bulimia, a disease that is often called the antipode. But, in fact, they are twin brothers: after all, with both anorexia and bulimia, a person sees the root of all his problems in food. Only in the first case, he refuses it in order to lose weight, and in the second — takes such adverse measures in order not to get better.
By the way, psychogenic vomiting, which is one of the manifestations of bulimia, is far from the only eating disorder. There are others.
So, allotriophagy is characterized by the desire to eat inedible, and sometimes simply dangerous objects (glasses, chairs, etc.).
Nervous orthorexia makes a person eat only healthy food.
Drancorexia involves taking alcohol instead of food in order to lose weight.
Selective eating disorders involve the exclusion of foods that a person considers harmful for some reason known only to him.
The list of food pathologies is not limited to this. There is also pregorexia, which is typical only for pregnant women, psychogenic loss of appetite, but obsessive-compulsive disorders, which are observed in many people, deserve special attention.
— And what is their specialty?
OK Obsessions — these are obsessive thoughts, and compulsions — arbitrary actions by which a person tries to get rid of these very thoughts. For example, he is afraid of catching an infection and therefore constantly washes his hands. Oddly enough, such useless activities temporarily help him.
From this, it is easy to understand that compulsive overeating is a kind of way to drown out your anxiety with food and thus fixate on it. You can solve this problem only if you understand that problems cannot be stuck, they must be solved. And, of course, try to find other pleasures in life besides food.
Sport mode: salt to a minimum, alcohol prohibited
— If you should not follow strict diets, but you want to lose weight, what should you do in this case?
OK Adopt the regime that athletes adhere to. The diet chosen by them allows them to be ready for the competition at any moment. That is, they cannot remain hungry, but it is strictly forbidden to eat to satiety.
What do they eat? Light and high-calorie food. Mostly carbohydrates (rice, potatoes, whole grain bread). Drink plenty of water, including freshly squeezed juices.
Athletes do not eat before the start:
• vegetables and fruits rich in fiber. They can cause indigestion;
• alcohol. It reduces the supply of oxygen to the heart;
• salty foods. They suggest additional fluid, which slows down movement.
By changing your food preferences, you can convert fetish food into essential fuel. And this will allow, like an athlete, to win over fate in solving the most difficult problems and receive your reward in the form of a beautiful body.
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