Spring is the time to lose weight. Doctors say that fast diets and rapid weight loss can be harmful to health. How many kilograms can you lose weight per month without negative consequences? What to do if the weight goes away too quickly or, conversely, stands still? aif.ru told about this endocrinologist, member of the Russian Association of Endocrinologists Arseniy Rusanov.
Optimal for men and women is considered to be a gradual weight loss of 5-10% of the original for 3-6 months, followed by retention of body weight. Thus, for a man weighing 110 kg, the target weight loss for 3-6 months will be 5.5-11 kg, and for 1 month – about 1-3.5 kg. For a woman who weighs 90 kg, the target weight loss per month will be 0.8-3 kg.
The age of the person does not matter. The exception is children. Excess weight in children is a problem that requires an individual approach, which includes the obligatory consultation of a pediatrician and, if necessary, a pediatric endocrinologist and nutritionist.
If the weight is dropping faster…
First, rapid weight loss is rarely long-term. Secondly, any express weight loss is stressful for the body, so it will direct all its efforts to restore its usual body weight. In medical practice, it is not uncommon for people who use extreme calorie reduction diets and heavily reduce body weight in a short period of time, after stopping this type of diet, quickly regained their weight with an excess of 5 kilograms or more.
Also, rapid weight loss can lead to psycho-emotional disorders, the appearance of wrinkles on the skin, muscle weakness, dehydration, metabolic disorders due to a lack of important vitamins and minerals, menstrual irregularities in women.
Subject to a low-calorie diet, Russian and foreign medical communities do not recommend reducing the calorie intake to less than 1200 kcal/day for women and less than 1500 kcal/day for men.
What to do if the weight is out of place?
In such situations, problems with the endocrine glands can be assumed: the thyroid gland, adrenal glands. To assess the functioning of the thyroid function, the basic analysis is the level of the hormone TSH in the blood. To assess the function of the adrenal glands, tests for cortisol in daily urine, in saliva, as well as a number of special tests, including the study of blood cortisol in accordance with the protocol prescribed by the doctor, are used.
Violation in the genital area allows you to determine the study on the level of hormones such as estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, LH, FSH, prolactin, DHEA, and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG).
Also, weight loss can be hindered by the reduced sensitivity of the body to its own insulin – insulin resistance. To evaluate it, you need to examine insulin and glucose in the blood. Not all cases require such a wide range of laboratory tests. The best option would be to contact a qualified endocrinologist to determine an individual examination plan.
Various conditions of the body and diseases can impose certain restrictions on the choice of the best nutrition scheme. For example, there are nutritional features with high cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension, reduced levels of vitamins, anemia, diseases of the stomach and intestines, and infectious diseases. Many of these problems may not manifest themselves in any way, which requires a laboratory examination.
To exclude or confirm these conditions, the doctor may prescribe:
– general blood analysis,
– general urine analysis,
– tests for cholesterol, glucose, other biochemical blood parameters,
– analysis for glycated hemoglobin,
– analysis for the level of vitamin D (25-OH-D).
Source: aif.ru