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Diet Programs

The main principle for obesity treatment is to restrict the daily calorie intake.  Diets may be planned according to many different caloric requirements.  However, it should be remembered that uncontrolled and excessive calorie restricted diets may be as dangerous as obesity itself.

 

Excessive Calorie Restricted Diets

 

 

 

 

Physiological hunger limit for a human is energy intake below 200 kcal per day.  In case of long term hunger, hypoglycemia appears so that the blood sugar which will be used for energy becomes insufficient and the energy increased in the blood is started to be transferred into the vital organs such as brain through ketone body.  However, if this case increases gradually, a clinic picture called “hunger ketosis” appears.  In this case, severe metabolic disorders on cellular level occurs with ketoacidosis.  Energy distribution and usage pattern change.  Severe vitamin, mineral and electrolyte imbalance occur in the body.  Each of these problems may create life threatening conditions.  Serious calorie restrictions up to starvation or long term diets are not recommended as a weight loss method in anyway.

However, certain caloric restrictions are of course needed for a healthy and sustainable weight loss.  The difficult issue here is to predict the further weight loss in each of these individuals.  Because the appropriate diet is decided by basing on this prediction.  The most important reason for mistakes on prediction of approximate weight loss or the failure to achieve expected weight losses is, not to be able to assume energy consumption of individuals and to control this energy consumption during the program.

Exercise is almost absent as a part of the life style especially in morbid obese individuals.  Basal energy need or normal individuals is about 22 kcal/kg.  This means that 22 kcal energy is consumed by the body per one kilogram without any exercise.  When morbid obese and obese patients loose weight, their total basal metabolism starts to decelerate.  To achieve a correct and efficient weight loss, these patients should be monitored dynamically, motivated and their exercise programs should be arranged within certain intervals and the most important is diet programs of these patients should not be allowed to remain same along the process.