Overweight, the National Health Commission takes action! Have you fallen into these weight loss "pitfalls"?

On March 9, the 3rd Session of the 14th National People's Congress held a press conference. Lei Haichao, director of the National Health Commission, answered questions from Chinese and foreign reporters and said that the weight management year action will continue to be promoted. The first major risk factor and disease that currently endangers the health of the Chinese people comes from chronic non-communicable diseases, and many of the pathogenic factors of chronic non-communicable diseases are closely related to everyone's behavior, lifestyle, diet and physical exercise, such as abnormal weight .

Abnormal weight can easily lead to high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, fatty liver, and even some cancers are related to abnormal weight. It is very important for everyone to be the first person responsible for their own health.

In the process of pursuing a healthy weight, many people fall into common misunderstandings, which need to be scientifically avoided to truly protect health. Next, let's count down several common weight loss misunderstandings and how to correct them , so that everyone who is losing weight can lose weight successfully and healthily.

Myth 1: Rapid weight loss = rapid fat loss

Rapid weight loss, as the name implies, means losing a lot of weight in a short period of time, such as losing 15 pounds in a week, losing 25 pounds in three days, etc. In fact, this method is often used by athletes who compete by weight class, in order to achieve better results by reducing a weight class. Some actors will also lose a lot of weight in a short period of time because of the needs of specific roles or simply to show a good personal image. However, losing weight quickly in a short period of time will not reduce the fat stored in the body as we wish, but more water and protein. Because fat consumption is a slow process, losing 1 kg of fat requires 7,200 kcal of energy. Rapid weight loss seems easy to achieve, but rapid fat loss is not realistic.

Moreover, most ordinary people in life use more extreme methods to lose weight quickly, such as dieting or even fasting, extremely reducing energy intake; reducing or quitting carbohydrates; extremely limiting fluid intake and wearing non-breathable clothes to sweat a lot during exercise; inducing vomiting, taking laxatives or diuretics, food inhibitors and other drugs... Little do they know that these methods of weight loss that cause the body to quickly lose energy balance or dehydrate will cause great harm to the body. The water in our body accounts for 60-70% of our body weight. Restricting fluid intake, sweating a lot, taking laxatives or diuretics and other drugs will cause a lot of dehydration in the body. Although weight will drop rapidly in a short period of time, the electrolyte disorder caused by a large amount of body fluid loss will disrupt the body's internal environment homeostasis. Once brain cells lose water seriously, neurological symptoms such as mania, hallucinations, and syncope will appear. Long-term dehydration will also increase the risk of urinary stones and acute renal failure.

Rapid weight loss caused by dieting and excessive restriction of energy intake will increase the risk of various nutrient deficiency-related diseases and damage immune function. When losing weight quickly, protein in the body breaks down and muscle content decreases, which in turn leads to a decrease in basal metabolic rate. The speed of weight loss will become slower and slower. Once normal diet and lifestyle habits are restored, weight will easily rebound quickly.

Myth 2: Local weight loss, lose weight wherever you lose weight

Some slimming products claim to slim down certain parts of the body, such as "slim down the legs", "slim down the waist", "slim down the face", etc., and have attracted the attention of many people who love to lose weight and beauty. They believe that "when I gain weight, my face gets fat first (or my stomach gets fat first, my legs get fat first, etc.)", and there are also many people who have slim limbs but thick waists and backs. Therefore, everyone believes that if you gain weight in certain parts first, then you can also lose weight in certain parts.

In fact, this view is wrong. Due to different physiques, each person stores fat in different parts. Some people are evenly fat, while others are only partially fat. However, the fat is uniformly distributed, so it will be consumed together. For example, the socks that claim to slim down the legs actually rely on compressing muscles and reducing edema, which visually reduces the leg circumference a little; slimming creams with added slimming ingredients may really reduce weight after applying and massaging, mostly due to dehydration. Those massagers and massage belts that act on local areas are still promoting a concept, that is, "passive exercise weight loss". You can use the equipment to consume energy without doing additional exercise. You can lose weight wherever you want. How attractive. In addition, there are fat-shaking machines that "move the whole body together", which are also such "lazy" instruments. Are these really effective?

You should know that our body consumes energy in three main ways: basal metabolism, physical activity, and the thermal effect of food . Among them, the part consumed by exercise and physical activity only accounts for 15-30% of the total energy consumption, but this is a critical part of whether we can lose weight successfully, and it will also affect our basal metabolism. When we actively exercise, the skeletal muscles contract vigorously, and the body will mobilize the three major energy-producing nutrients (protein, fat, and carbohydrates) in the body to decompose and provide energy for skeletal muscle contraction. Passive exercise uses external force to make body tissues move, and the skeletal muscles do not contract vigorously, so it cannot promote the body's energy consumption and cannot achieve the purpose of fat loss.

Myth 3: Low-carb diet

Low-carb diets mainly include the Paleo diet, Atkins diet, ketogenic diet, zero-carb diet, Mediterranean low-carb diet, and high-protein low-carb diet . The carbohydrate energy supply ratio in these low-carb diets is far lower than the 50-65% recommended by the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents". Carbohydrates are the fastest energy-providing nutrient among the three major energy-producing nutrients. A large amount of carbohydrate intake by a normal human body can quickly increase blood sugar and stimulate increased insulin secretion, thereby providing glucose that can be directly used by the human body, and converting excess glucose into glycogen and fat for storage. Glycogen is a polysaccharide composed of a large number of glucose molecules. Like adipose tissue, glycogen is also a form of energy storage in the body, mainly stored in muscle tissue and liver.

1g of glycogen needs to be combined with 3-4g of water, so when 1g of glycogen is consumed, the water will also be excreted from the body. This is why weight loss will be obvious in the first few days of a low-carbohydrate diet. People who advocate a low-carb diet believe that as long as they do not eat or eat less staple foods and foods rich in sugar, they can reduce fat synthesis. In fact, what is lost is not fat, but glycogen and water.

When carbohydrates are lacking for a long time, blood sugar levels will drop, and symptoms of hypoglycemia and hypotension such as dizziness, fatigue, and cold sweats are likely to occur. Glucose is the only energy substance that the brain can use, and long-term deficiency will cause irreversible damage to the brain. In addition, due to the reduction in food types, the intake of some vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber rich in cereal and potato foods will be reduced, causing constipation, malnutrition and other problems. The large amount of ketone bodies produced by the long-term consumption of fat for energy by the body can lead to ketoacidosis and ketoacidosis, which is life-threatening in severe cases. Long-term high-protein, high-fat diets can also lead to calcium loss, increased purine intake, and increased burden on the liver and kidneys, increasing the risk of diseases such as gout, osteoporosis, fatty liver, and renal dysfunction.

Myth 4: Not eating after noon

In ancient times, people "worked at sunrise and rested at sunset". There was basically no activity at night, and they went to bed as soon as it got dark, so they didn't need to eat a lot for dinner. The ancients also had the habit of "not eating after noon", which actually came from a Buddhist precept, which means not eating from 12 noon to dawn the next day. The lifestyle of modern people is very different from that of ancient people. In the past, the pace of life was slow. Now most people go to bed after 11 pm, and there are also many people who go to bed after midnight. If you mechanically choose not to eat after noon, your body will definitely not be able to bear it.

Similar to those extreme diets, the short-term hunger caused by not eating after noon can also bring about a certain weight loss effect. However, we have to study, work, do housework, etc. at night. If we do not eat, it will not only reduce the efficiency of work and study, but also may cause danger when going out to do business or driving at night. If the body is running at a high intensity every day, but does not get the nutrients it deserves, it will be overdrawn over time, and how can diseases not come to the door? In addition, not eating after noon for a long time can also cause serious stomach problems . Think about it, the stomach empties in only 3 or 4 hours. If you don’t eat anything after lunch and don’t eat until breakfast the next day, during this nearly 20-hour fasting time, the stomach will contract due to hunger, and excessive stomach acid without food to neutralize it will damage the gastric mucosa. Even if you are lucky enough not to get sick when you are young, you will suffer from stomach problems when you are old. Moreover, if you fast for a long time, bile will stay in the gallbladder for a long time, which is prone to congestion and crystallization, and cholesterol stones are likely to form.

Myth 5: Skipping breakfast or skipping one meal to lose weight

The opposite of not eating after noon is skipping breakfast, or some people choose not to eat lunch. Reducing total energy intake may lead to weight loss in the short term, but it often loses muscle and water , and the effect on weight is not obvious over time, and it may even lead to weight gain. This is because the body will gradually adapt to this mode by reducing the metabolic rate .

Skipping a meal, especially skipping breakfast, can cause many health hazards . The glycogen stored in the body has been consumed overnight. Skipping breakfast will reduce the excitability of the brain, causing poor concentration and slow reaction, affecting work and study efficiency. Being in this state for a long time will also affect the brain development of children. Skipping breakfast is the same as skipping food after noon. It will cause gastritis, duodenal ulcers, gallstones and other diseases due to long-term fasting.

Cooperating unit: Tianjin Science Writers Association

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