Is it possible to lose weight fast? - Hei Man Chan

Translator: Ainhoa Pereira Reviewer: Servizo de Normalización Lingüística

In the wealthiest circles of Victorian England,

Entre os mais adiñeirados da Inglaterra vitoriana

bizarre fads ran rampant.

había modas ben curiosas,

But perhaps none was as strange as the tapeworm diet,

pero quizais ningunha foi tan estraña como a dieta da solitaria.

in which dieters swallowed an unhatched tapeworm

Nesta dieta, inxerían un ovo de tenia solitaria

and let it grow inside them by consuming undigested meals.

e esperaban a que a tenia saíse para consumir dentro os alimentos.

Obviously, this is an exceptionally dangerous and unhealthy way

Por suposto, é unha forma moi perigosa e insá de controlar o peso.

to manage your weight.

However, while modern fad diets aren't usually this extreme,

Porén, inda que as dietas actuais de moda non adoitan ser tan extremas,

they do promise similar results; specifically, losing weight fast.

prometen resultados similares; concretamente, perder peso rapidamente.

So, are there any fast diets that do work?

Daquela, hai algunha dieta rápida que funcione?

And are any of them actually healthy for you?

E algunha é realmente saudable?

To answer these questions, let’s consider a thought experiment.

Para responder a estas preguntas, fagamos un experimento mental.

Sam and Felix are identical twins both planning to go on a diet.

Sam e Felix son xemelgos idénticos e ambos planean facer dieta.

They share the same height, weight, fat and muscle mass.

Teñen a mesma altura, peso, graxa e masa muscular.

But Sam is hoping to lose weight slowly, while Felix wants to go fast.

Sam espera perder peso lentamente, pero Felix quere facelo rápido.

Sam's plan is to gradually decrease his calorie intake

O plan de Sam é diminuír gradualmente o seu consumo de calorías

and increase his regular exercise.

e aumentar o exercicio de maneira regular.

With less energy coming in and more being expended,

Cando entra menos enerxía da que gasta,

he’s creating an energy deficit inside his body.

xorde un déficit de enerxía no seu corpo.

To compensate, Sam’s body begins breaking down his emergency glucose supply,

Para compensar, o corpo de Sam descompón a subministración de glicosa

stored in the liver in the form of glycogen.

acumulada no fígado en forma de glicóxeno.

Then, after 4 to 6 hours, his body starts burning fat cells

Logo, tras catro ou seis horas, o corpo comeza a queimar células graxas

as a major energy source.

como fonte principal de enerxía.

This process releases lipid droplets

Este proceso libera gotas de lípidos

which are broken down into compounds that float through the bloodstream

que se descompoñen en compostos que flotan polo torrente sanguíneo

and provide energy to organs and tissues.

e aportan enerxía aos órganos e tecidos.

Felix aims to create a similar energy deficit

O obxectivo de Felix é crear un déficit de enerxía similar

by dramatically cutting his calorie intake.

reducindo drasticamente a súa achega calórica.

Unlike Sam, who’s still eating smaller meals,

Mentres Sam come pratos de comida mais pequenos,

Felix is eating almost nothing.

Felix non come case nada

And his body responds by going into a starvation response.

e o seu corpo responde á inanición.

Felix’s body breaks down his entire store of emergency glucose in just 18 hours.

Felix gasta toda a súa reserva de glicosa en só 18 horas.

And while Sam steadily replenishes glycogen with every healthy meal,

Sam repón o glicóxeno constantemente con cada comida saudable

Felix’s low-calorie diet does not.

e, polo contrario, a dieta baixa en calorías de Felix non.

Desperate for energy, his body starts breaking down other materials,

Desesperado por conseguir enerxía, o seu corpo descompón outros elementos,

including his muscles.

incluídos os seus músculos.

Meanwhile, Sam’s regular exercise is maintaining his muscle mass.

Mentres, Sam mantén a súa masa muscular con exercicio regular.

This means he’ll use more energy both during exercise and at rest,

Isto significa que usará mais enerxía tanto durante o exercicio coma en repouso,

making it easier for him to lose weight.

o que lle facilitará a perda de peso.

Felix, on the other hand, is losing muscle mass

Felix, pola súa parte, está perdendo masa muscular

and burning fewer calories than ever for his body's basic functions,

e queimando menos calorías ca nunca para as funcións básicas do corpo,

making weight loss even more difficult.

o dificulta a perda de peso.

Despite all this, there’s one element of Felix’s fast diet

A pesar de todo, hai algo da dieta rápida de Felix

that might make him think he's on the right track.

que podería facerlle crer que o fai ben.

Every gram of glycogen is bound to several grams of water.

Cada gramo de glicóxeno está unido a varios gramos de auga.

This can add up to two kilograms of water weight,

Isto pode sumar ata dous quilogramos de peso de auga

all of which is lost when the glycogen is depleted.

que se perden cando o glicóxeno se esgota,

For Felix, this might seem like he’s losing weight fast.

o que podería facerlle crer a Felix que está perdendo peso rapidamente.

But as soon as he stops starving himself,

Porén, cando lle toque volver a comer,

his body will replenish its glycogen store and regain that weight.

reporá a súa reserva de glicóxeno e recuperará ese peso.

Clearly, Felix’s plan does more harm than good,

Evidentemente, o plan de Felix fai máis dano que ben.

but extreme calorie reduction diets aren’t the only regimens

Pero estas dietas para perder calorías non son os únicos réximes

promising to shed weight fast.

que prometen perder peso rapidamente.

Plans called “detoxification diets” either promote or restrict certain foods

As chamadas “dietas de desintoxicación” promoven ou restrinxen certos alimentos

to provide specific nutrients in high quantities.

para proporcionar nutrientes específicos en altas cantidades.

These can be useful for addressing some nutritional problems,

Poden ser útiles para abordar algúns problemas nutricionais,

but they’re far too specific to be used as general cure-alls.

pero son moi específicas para utilizalas como remedios xerais.

For example, for a person with low vitamin A,

Por exemplo, para alguén con escaseza de vitamina A,

a juice diet might be helpful.

unha dieta de zumes podería ser útil,

But for someone high in vitamin A, juicing could be disastrous.

pero, para quen teña a vitamina A alta, os zumes poderían ser desastrosos.

And regardless of personal nutrition,

E sexa cal sexa a nutrición persoal,

maintaining a juice diet over multiple weeks

manter unha dieta de zumes durante varias semanas

is likely to compromise the immune system

probablemente dane o sistema inmunolóxico

due to a lack of essential fats and proteins.

debido á falta de graxas esenciais e proteínas.

Therein lies the problem with all these fast-moving diets—

Aí está o problema con todas estas dietas rápidas:

whether you’re cutting calories or food groups,

ao reducir calorías ou grupos de alimentos,

extreme diets are a shock to your system.

as dietas extremas causan un impacto no organismo.

There are well-established rates of healthy weight loss

Hai taxas definidas do que é a perda de peso sa

motivated by both diet and exercise

motivada pola dieta e o exercicio

that account for genetic and medical differences.

que consideran as diferenzas xenéticas e médicas

And staying on those timelines requires a dietary lifestyle that’s sustainable.

e manterse entre eses puntos require unha dieta sostible.

In fact, some of the worst side effects of extreme diets

Sobre os peores efectos secundarios das dietas extremas

are rarely discussed since so few people stick with them,

rara vez se fala porque a xente quítalles importancia.

it also bears mentioning that many societies have unhealthy relationships

Tamén hai que dicir que moitas sociedades teñen unha relación insá co peso

with weight,

and people are often pressured to diet for reasons other than health or happiness.

e, a miúdo, a xente fai dieta por razóns alleas á saúde ou á felicidade.

So rather than trying to lose weight fast,

Así que, en vez de adelgazar rapidamente,

we should all be taking our time to figure out

deberiamos dedicar tempo a achar

what the healthiest lifestyle is for ourselves.

cal é o estilo de vida máis saudable para nós.