I want to increase my intake of meat and vegetables and avoid eating rice and starchy foods to lose weight. What should I pay attention to? (Ngoc Han, Ho Chi Minh City)
Eating meat instead of rice to lose weight is also called the keto diet. By minimizing the amount of starch (carbohydrates), increasing the amount of protein and fat in the daily diet. Protein intake is kept at 10-25% of total energy levels each day, helping the body maintain a state of ketosis. At that time, the pancreas is stimulated to burn fat and convert it into ketones, providing energy for the body.
Applying the keto diet can bring about rapid weight loss, and the body significantly reduces blood sugar levels. However, you need to note a few things:
First, the keto diet is about minimizing starchy foods, not eliminating them completely. Second, the body focuses on using ketone fats instead of carbohydrates for a long time, which can change the body’s internal metabolism and increase bad cholesterol levels, causing many harmful effects to health.
People with immunodeficiency or metabolic disorders, hypercholesterolemia, cardiovascular disease, impaired liver function, kidney disease… should not apply the keto diet. Because diet has the risk of making the disease worse or causing dangerous complications.
Abusing the keto diet for a long time can increase blood uric acid, increase urinary calcium, lower blood sugar, and increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
If you need to apply the keto diet to lose weight for a certain period of time, you should get specific advice from your doctor to ensure you absorb the appropriate amount of carbohydrates according to your health condition. You should add vegetable oils (soybean, sunflower, olive, canola) that contain lots of omega-3 ALA, good for heart health. Supplementing the biological compound GDL-5 (extracted from South American sugarcane pollen) helps regulate blood fat, reduces the amount of excess bad cholesterol in the blood and increases good cholesterol.
The principle for safe and effective weight loss is that the total amount of calories consumed must be lower than the amount of calories consumed daily. Besides, you need to have an exercise regimen appropriate to your health condition.