Many slimming diets flourish every spring, and many French people start dieting in anticipation of sunny beach vacations in swimsuits. More than just a two-month slimming diet, the secret to a slender and healthy figure lies in adopting (for life) a balanced dietary strategy.
Basic Principles of a Balanced Diet
The basic principles of a healthy diet are quite simple. Foods are often classified into groups based on their nutrient content: fruits and vegetables, grains and legumes (carbohydrates), animal and vegetable fats (oils, butter, nuts), dairy products, meats, and fish (and their alternatives: tempeh, tofu, etc.). Each food group is unique and provides specific nutrients. Therefore, it is important to eat a variety of foods from each of the main food groups every day.
Eat moderate portions of all foods, except for vegetables, which can be eaten in larger quantities - with a few exceptions and provided that you control the seasoning and cooking method.
Remember that taking the time to eat and enjoy what you eat is even more important as it allows us to more easily become aware of the quantities actually consumed.
If you are no longer hungry, do not finish your plate even if you have often been conditioned to do so! To avoid waste, use small plates, even if you have to serve yourself (a little) more if at the end of your first plate you still feel hungry. Quickly, you will learn to gauge the quantities.
It's noon and you're not hungry? Wait until you feel hungry before sitting down to eat. Your body knows what it needs and when it needs it. However, it is not a question of snacking all day but only of shifting meal times when hunger is not felt.
Foods to Avoid or Limit
It's all about moderation. Consuming occasional foods to avoid as described below is not problematic. Problems can arise when more than 50% of the diet consists of industrial prepared dishes, for example (too fatty, too sweet, or too salty), or when the habit of eating very salty food is formed. Our bodies and minds easily adapt to new habits. It is therefore not so difficult to switch to a healthier diet, although it requires more organization, but it is also essential to get into the kitchen!
Industrial preparations
The quality of the raw materials, which for economic reasons are often derived from intensive agriculture or replaced by cheaper but less healthy raw materials (sunflower oil vs. olive oil in industrial pesto, palm oil vs. butter in certain cookie recipes, poor-quality minced meat in minced meat dishes such as lasagna, ravioli, or hachis Parmentier).
Even if it seems practical and balanced to eat canned ratatouille or dehydrated soup, it is important to know their secrets. In order to achieve a result close to homemade preparation, many additives, flavorings, preservatives, and colorings are added to the original recipe. They have the disadvantage of significantly increasing the amounts of salt and chemical components absorbed daily by the whole family and especially by children. As a reminder, excessive salt consumption poses the problem of a too acidic diet which has many consequences on health (high blood pressure, stress, migraines, kidney, bone, and joint dysfunctions, etc.) and on appetite since salt is naturally a flavor enhancer, meaning a substance that sharpens the appetite and pushes to eat more. Regarding chemical components such as preservatives, flavor enhancers, and other colorings, they are known for their allergenic properties, especially in children. These are mainly apparently harmless elements, the consequences of regular consumption of which in the long term in humans are not known.
Trans fatty acids
They come from the agri-food industry: a process called hydrogenation transforms the structure of the molecules of vegetable oils in order to improve their preservation but above all to modify their consistency since these liquid vegetable materials become permanently solid. These trans fatty acids are omnipresent in industrially produced food products. They help to "improve" the texture and smoothness of a certain number of preparations. This subterfuge allows the modification of the recipes of industrial preparations at a lower cost. Even if they can exist naturally, synthetic trans fatty acids are a real public health problem: like saturated fatty acids, they increase blood levels of LDL cholesterol while lowering levels of HDL cholesterol. And since they are found in many preparations, this significantly increases cardiovascular risk factors. According to the results of a study published in 1997, trans fatty acids could increase this risk by around 132% compared to 32% for saturated fats.
High Glycemic Index Foods
After a meal, the pancreas secretes insulin to regulate blood sugar levels, which vary depending on the nature of the meal. For example, consuming grilled meat or green vegetables results in low blood sugar and therefore low insulin secretion. Conversely, consumption of candies (made with refined sugars), fast carbohydrates like potatoes, sharply increases blood sugar and therefore the amounts of insulin released into the blood. Foods whose consumption increases insulin secretion are said to have a high glycemic index (GI) and vice versa. The abusive and disorganized consumption (snacking) of high GI foods promotes obesity but also, in the long run, the development of type 2 diabetes and all its dramatic consequences on health in general. Among the foods consumed daily in France, some have very high GI values: white baguette, sliced bread, jam, refined breakfast cereals (sugar-coated or frosted specialties, for example), potatoes, etc.
Salt
According to ANSES, "a consumption of 4 g of salt per day per person is sufficient to meet the needs of an adult. In France, the average salt consumption is 10 g/day/person. According to scientific studies, overconsumption of salt (more than 12 g/day) could be harmful. Excess salt promotes an increase in blood pressure and the development of cardiovascular diseases and worsens the health of people with high blood pressure, heart failure, or diabetes. This is why these pathologies are often accompanied by a salt-free diet. Finally, excessive salt consumption would also be a risk factor for osteoporosis.
Références : (1) Hu FB, Stampfer MJ, Manson JE, Rimm E, Colditz GA, Rosner BA, Hennekens CH, Willett WC. Dietary fat intake and the risk of coronary heart disease in women. N Engl J Med. 1997 Nov 20;337(21):1491-9.