Weight stability in Dashti diet

Dashti diet

Dashti diet or Atkins diet (in English: Atkins diet) is a diet promoted by physician Robert Atkins, and is usually recommended for weight loss. Proponents of this diet claim that a person can lose weight by eating an unlimited amount of protein and fat as long as he avoids foods that contain carbohydrates. Many studies have shown that low-carbohydrate diets are effective for losing weight, and can improve health in many ways. Different without having to count calories.

Weight stability in Dashti diet

Weight tends to decrease rapidly at the beginning of the diet, and after that there may be a time when it is difficult to lose weight, so the person goes through a phase of weight stability, or what is called a weight loss plateau (in English: Weight loss plateau), which causes frustration, so some strategies can help. To lose weight again on any diet:

• Increase the duration or intensity of exercise: Supporting the diet with exercise helps reverse the decline in weight loss. This is because weight loss slows down the metabolic rate, while exercise helps counteract this effect, especially strength and resistance exercises that preserve muscle mass, which greatly affects the burning of calories during activity and rest.
• Track daily eating: Tracking calories, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates can provide specific information about the amount consumed, which allows some dietary adjustments to be made in order to start losing weight again.
• Control stress and stress: Stress can negatively affect weight loss. As it contributes to stimulating a strong desire to eat, and increases the body’s production of cortisol (in English: Cortisol), or the so-called stress hormone, which increases the storage of fat in the abdominal area, and thus leads to difficulty losing weight, so stress-relieving strategies such as relaxation and breathing can help. Deep weight loss.
• intermittent fasting Intermittent fasting, which is fasting for 16-48 hours, helps promote fat and weight loss, reduce waist circumference, and maintain muscle mass during weight loss.
• Fiber intake: Eating more fiber, especially soluble fiber, can help break through the weight plateau. As it slows down the movement of food through the digestive system, which increases the feeling of fullness, in addition to reducing calories absorbed from other foods.
• Drink water, coffee or tea: Drinking water can help reduce the amount of food consumed, and some drinks containing caffeine also contribute to reversing the cessation of weight loss by increasing the metabolic rate and burning fat.
• Getting enough sleep: It is recommended to sleep for 7-8 hours a day; Not getting enough sleep can lead to weight gain by lowering metabolic rate and changing hormone levels that lead to increased appetite and fat storage.
• Relying on different weight loss metrics: The scale reading does not accurately reflect progress in weight loss, such as changes in body composition, so the goal should be to lose fat, not lose weight. Exercise also increases muscle mass, which is considered denser than fat and takes up less space in the body, so the Weight stability can be a result of building muscle and losing fat.

Stages of Dashti diet

Dr. Atkins explained that consuming refined carbohydrates such as sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and flour is the main cause of weight gain, and when a person follows this diet, the body’s metabolism shifts from burning sugar as fuel to burning fat stored in the body, and to compensate for the lack of foods rich in vitamins. This diet encourages the use of nutritional supplements, and the following points show the stages of the Dashti diet:

• The first stage: Consumption of calories from carbohydrates is limited to less than 20 grams per day, and their source should be salad and low-carb vegetables such as leafy vegetables, in addition to eating foods rich in fat and protein.
• The second phase: Foods rich in nutrients and fiber are added as additional sources of carbohydrates, including nuts, low-carb vegetables, and small amounts of fruits. These additions are made gradually:
  • Add 25 grams during the first week of the second phase.
  • Add 30 grams during the second week, and every subsequent week until the person stops losing weight.
  • Reduce the amount of carbohydrates consumed by 5 grams per day until the person returns to slow weight loss.
• third level: Increase the amount of carbohydrates by 10 grams per week until the weight begins to decrease very slowly.
• The fourth stage: This is the stage of maintaining weight throughout life. The person begins to add a wider range of carbohydrate sources while carefully monitoring weight to ensure that it does not increase.

Harmful effects of Dashti diet

People can lose weight when continuing the Dashti diet, but most do not continue it in the long term. As they stop following the program after two or three years, there is also a need for more research to confirm the benefit of the Dashti diet compared to other diets. The Dashti diet can cause a group of negative effects on the body in the early stages, including the following:

• headache;
• dizziness;
• Weakness.
• Fatigue.
• constipation;

Also, restricting carbohydrates to less than 20 grams per day, which is the recommended level in the first stage, causes the accumulation of ketones resulting from using fats instead of glucose to obtain energy, which causes a group of harms, including:

• nausea;
• mental fatigue
• Bad breath.
• Muscle spasm.
• Skin rash.
• diarrhea.
• Vitamin and mineral deficiencies, loss of bone mass, digestive disorders, and increased risk of chronic diseases in the long term.

In addition, the Dashti diet is not suitable for everyone, such as people who take diuretics, insulin, and oral diabetes medications, in addition to kidney patients, and pregnant and breastfeeding women.