In the quest for weight loss and improved health, various dietary approaches have emerged. Among these, the low-energy diet plan stands out as a strategy focused on limiting the overall number of calories consumed. This article provides a detailed exploration of low-energy diet plans, their benefits, potential drawbacks, and practical considerations for implementation.
Understanding Low-Energy Diets
A low-calorie diet is an eating plan used to help people lose weight. It involves limiting the overall number of calories you eat or drink in a day. Rapid weight loss diet is a type of diet in which you lose more than 2 pounds (1 kilogram, kg) a week over several weeks. To lose weight this quickly you eat very few calories.
Very-Low-Calorie Diet (VLCD)
Most VLCDs use meal replacements, such as formulas, soups, shakes, and bars instead of regular meals. This helps ensure that you get all of the nutrients you need each day. A VLCD is only recommended for adults who have obesity and need to lose weight for health reasons. These diets are often used before weight-loss surgery. You should only use a VLCD with the help of your provider. Most experts do not recommend using a VLCD for more than 12 weeks.
Low-Calorie Diet (LCD)
These diets usually allow about 1,000 to 1,200 calories a day for women and 1,200 to 1,600 calories a day for men. An LCD is a better choice than a VLCD for most people who want to lose weight quickly. But you should still be supervised by a provider. You will not lose weight as fast with an LCD, but you can lose just as much weight with a VLCD. An LCD may use a mix of meal replacements and regular food. This makes it easier to follow than a VLCD.
Benefits of Low-Energy Diets
Rapid weight loss diet is usually for people who have health problems because of obesity. If you were overweight at the time of your cancer diagnosis, you may want to talk to your doctor about going on a low-calorie diet. You might also consider a weight-loss plan that includes diet and exercise. Obesity has been linked to a poorer prognosis for several cancers, including breast cancer, colon cancer, esophageal cancer, and tongue cancer. It can also contribute to a higher risk of prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, and endometrial cancer.
Read also: Energy Consumption and Diets
Potential Downsides and Health Concerns
You should only follow one of these diets with the help of your provider. Losing more than 1 or 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kg) a week is not safe for most people. It can cause you to lose muscle, water, and bone density. Rapid weight loss can also cause some side effects including:
- Gallstones
- Gout
- Fatigue
- Constipation
- Diarrhea
- Nausea
People who lose weight quickly are also more likely to gain back the weight quickly. This can lead to other health problems.
In general, a rapid weight loss diet is not safe for children. It may also not be safe for teens, pregnant women or older adults unless a provider recommends it.
Dietary Strategies for Energy and Well-being
Your body runs off what you feed it. The best way to get the most energy from your food is to make sure you’re giving yourself the best food possible. Some eating behaviors may also contribute to fatigue. For instance, you might feel sluggish after eating a big meal. This is because your body is using its energy to digest the big meal instead of powering the rest of your body. Consider eating several smaller meals throughout the day and going for a short walk after eating to help aid digestion and prevent sluggishness.
Foods to Combat Fatigue
Here are 11 foods to help you beat fatigue.
Read also: Boosting Vegan Energy Levels
- Unprocessed Whole Foods: Choosing unprocessed foods may help you feel more energized for longer periods.
- Fruits and Vegetables: Fruits and vegetables are packed with essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that help fight fatigue and improve physical function.
- Water, Black Decaffeinated Coffee, and Unsweetened Tea: Drinking water, black decaffeinated coffee, and unsweetened tea may be the best options for preventing fatigue.
- Lean Proteins: Lean proteins form an important part of a balanced diet and may help fight fatigue by: maintaining muscle mass, preventing malnutrition, reducing systemic inflammations, slowing digestion, keeping you fuller for longer, preventing glucose spikes and crashes.
- Complex Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates are an important macronutrient. They’re the primary source of energy for your body.
- Bananas: A 2012 study compared bananas to carbohydrate sports drinks in cyclists who needed sustained energy for their long rides. The researchers found that the banana offered just as much fuel to the riders as the drink.
- Oats: Oats pack a punch of fiber and even a little protein, which may provide long-lasting energy and prevent fatigue.
- Seeds: Like nuts, seeds may provide a convenient source of prolonged energy thanks to their carbs, healthy fats, and fiber.
Nutrients Essential for Energy
The cornerstones of an energy-boosting nutrition plan include eating enough and getting sufficient nutrients, eating regularly, and staying hydrated. The science of energy: Nutrients you need. Have you heard of the term “metabolism?” This is the set of chemical processes in your body that turn food into energy. These processes require both macronutrients (protein, fat, and carbohydrates) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) to function.
A research review explains that when certain vitamins and minerals are low, a person may experience fatigue. These micronutrients include:
- Vitamin B12: found in animal products and fortified foods like breakfast cereals and nutritional yeast. Needed for metabolism (turning food into energy), making red blood cells, and creating DNA.
- Other B vitamins: found in animal products, leafy greens, legumes, and seeds. Play essential roles in the pathways responsible for converting food into energy.
- Vitamin C: found in citrus fruits, bell peppers, and kale. Supports healthy mitochondria, the site of the majority of energy production in the cell.
- Iron: found in meat, seafood, and poultry. Also in fortified foods, lentils, beans, and peas. Helps red blood cells transport oxygen and plays a role in the creation of ATP (which is a key energy source in the body).
- Magnesium: found in dairy products, legumes, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and green leafy vegetables. Supports healthy blood sugar levels, plays a role in energy production, and supports normal nerve and muscle function.
While supplementing with these nutrients may be helpful, it’s ideal to first make sure you’re eating a well-balanced diet that will help cover your micronutrient bases.
Healthy Eating Plate
The Healthy Eating Plate encourages consumers to use healthy oils, and it does not set a maximum on the percentage of calories people should get each day from healthy sources of fat. The Healthy Eating Plate does not define a certain number of calories or servings per day from each food group. The relative section sizes suggest approximate relative proportions of each of the food groups to include on a healthy plate.
- Protein Power: Fish, poultry, beans, and nuts are all healthy, versatile protein sources-they can be mixed into salads, and pair well with vegetables on a plate.
- Healthy Plant Oils: Choose healthy vegetable oils like olive, canola, soy, corn, sunflower, peanut, and others, and avoid partially hydrogenated oils, which contain unhealthy trans fats.
Practical Strategies for Implementing a Low-Energy Diet
Here are some practical strategies for implementing a low-energy diet.
Read also: Sustainable Future with Vegetarianism
- Drink water or other calorie-free beverages before you reach for food.
- Go for a walk.
- Space meals and snacks evenly throughout the day.
- Use healthier cooking methods, like baking, roasting, broiling, stewing, or grilling instead of frying.
- Track what you are eating throughout the day to help stick to your eating plan.
- Use the Healthy Eating Plate as a guide for creating healthy, balanced meals-whether served at the table or packed in a lunch box.
- Use healthy oils (like olive and canola oil) for cooking, on salad, and at the table. Limit butter.
- Drink water, tea, or coffee (with little or no sugar). Limit milk/dairy (1-2 servings/day) and juice (1 small glass/day).
- The more veggies - and the greater the variety - the better.
- Eat a variety of whole grains (like whole-wheat bread, whole-grain pasta, and brown rice).
Time-Restricted Eating
This diet strategy is becoming more popular. It is often compared to fasting, but the two strategies are slightly different. Time-restricted eating limits the number of hours per day that you can eat. A popular strategy is the 16:8. For this diet, you have to eat all of your meals during an 8 hour period, for example, 10 am to 6 pm. The rest of the time you cannot eat anything.
Intermittent Fasting
Fasting is an ancient form of caloric restriction. It has become more popular recently. This is partly because some animal and human studies have shown benefits to fasting for people with diabetes and obesity. There are many different fasting regimens and it is unclear which may be the best. One of the most popular is the 5:2 system. This involves 2 days a week of fasting or VLCD and 5 days a week of eating your normal diet.
The Mediterranean Diet: An Alternative Approach
The Mediterranean Diet is a way of eating that emphasizes plant-based foods and healthy fats. You focus on overall eating patterns rather than following strict formulas or calculations.
Core Principles of the Mediterranean Diet
In general, you’ll eat:
- Lots of vegetables, fruit, beans, lentils and nuts.
- A good amount of whole grains, like whole-wheat bread and brown rice.
- Plenty of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) as a source of healthy fat.
- A good amount of fish, especially fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
- A moderate amount of natural cheese and yogurt.
- Little or no red meat, choosing poultry, fish or beans instead of red meat.
- Little or no sweets, sugary drinks or butter.
- A moderate amount of wine with meals (but if you don’t already drink, don’t start).
Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean Diet has many benefits, including:
- Lowering your risk of cardiovascular disease, including a heart attack or stroke.
- Supporting a body weight that’s healthy for you.
- Supporting healthy blood sugar levels, blood pressure and cholesterol.
- Lowering your risk of metabolic syndrome.
- Supporting a healthy balance of gut microbiota (bacteria and other microorganisms) in your digestive system.
- Lowering your risk for certain types of cancer.
- Slowing the decline of brain function as you age.
- Helping you live longer.
Creating a Mediterranean Diet Meal Plan
It’s important to consult with a primary care physician (PCP) or dietitian before making drastic changes to your diet or trying any new eating plan. They’ll make sure your intended plan is best for you based on your individual needs. They may also share meal plans and recipes for you to try at home.
In general, when thinking about meals, you’ll want to collect some go-to options and recipes for breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks. The more variety, the better. You don’t want to get stuck in a rut or feel like you’re restricted in which foods you can or should eat. Luckily, there’s plenty of room for changing things up with the Mediterranean Diet.
Sample Meals
- Breakfast: Steel-cut oats with fresh berries and ground flaxseed, whole-grain toast with nut butter and a nutritious smoothie, Greek yogurt topped with fruit and walnuts, egg white omelet with fresh, seasonal veggies.
- Lunch: You may want to prepare some lunches the day before so they’re ready to pack or grab from the fridge as needed.
- Dinner: Wrap up the day with a hearty, nutrient-packed entree like. For some added nutrients and color, throw together a side salad - like a sesame cucumber salad or a fennel, orange and mint salad. To keep things simple, try drizzling mixed greens with a nutritious Mediterranean dressing.
- Snacks: Portion and prepare snacks ahead of time so they’re ready when you need them. A handful of nuts and seeds (low salt or no salt added), fresh fruit, ideally local and in-season, nonfat Greek yogurt and a small piece of dark chocolate (at least 70% cacao), whole-grain crackers with hummus, raw veggies with a nonfat Greek yogurt dip.
Foods to Emphasize and Limit in the Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean Diet encourages you to eat plenty of some foods (like whole grains and vegetables) while limiting others. The Mediterranean Diet doesn’t set hard and fast rules for what you’re allowed or not allowed. Rather, it encourages you to eat more of certain foods and limit others. You can eat any food you want as long as you do so in moderation. One thing to keep an eye on is energy-dense foods. These foods provide more calories per bite. Not all energy-dense foods are bad for you. Two examples of good energy-dense foods are nuts and avocados.
Mediterranean Diet Serving Goals and Sizes
A fridge and pantry full of nutritious foods are great for starters. But where do you go from there? How much of each food do you need? It’s always best to talk to a dietitian to get advice tailored to your needs as you get started. The chart below offers some general guidance on serving goals and serving sizes, according to the type of food.
| Food | Serving Goal | Serving Size | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh fruits and vegetables | Fruit: 3 servings per day; Veggies: At least 3 servings per day | Fruit: ½ cup to 1 cup; Veggies: ½ cup cooked or 1 cup raw | Have at least 1 serving of veggies at each meal; Choose fruit as a snack |
| Whole grains and starchy vegetables (potatoes, peas and corn) | 3 to 6 servings per day | ½ cup cooked grains, pasta or cereal; 1 slice of bread; 1 cup dry cereal | Choose oats, barley, quinoa or brown rice; Bake or roast red skin potatoes or sweet potatoes; Choose whole grain bread, cereal, couscous and pasta; Limit or avoid refined carbohydrates |
| Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) | 1 to 4 servings per day | 1 tablespoon | Use instead of vegetable oil and animal fats (butter, sour cream, mayo); Drizzle on salads, cooked veggies or pasta; Use as dip for bread |
| Legumes (beans and lentils) | 3 servings per week | ½ cup | Add to salads, soups and pasta dishes; Try hummus or bean dip with raw veggies; Opt for a veggie or bean burger |
| Fish | 3 servings per week | 3 to 4 ounces | Choose fish rich in omega-3s, like salmon, sardines, herring, tuna and mackerel |
| Nuts | At least 3 servings per week | ¼ cup nuts or 2 tablespoons nut butter | Ideally, choose walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts; Add to cereal, salad and yogurt; Choose raw, unsalted and dry roasted varieties; Eat alone or with dried fruit as a snack |
| Poultry | No more than once daily (fewer may be better) | 3 ounces | Choose white meat instead of dark meat; Eat in place of red meat; Choose skinless poultry or remove the skin before cooking; Bake, broil or grill it |
| Dairy | No more than once daily (fewer may be better) | 1 cup milk or yogurt; 1 ½ ounces natural cheese | Choose naturally low-fat cheese; Choose fat-free or 1% milk, yogurt and cottage cheese; Avoid whole-fat milk, cream, and cream-based sauces and dressings |
| Eggs | Up to 1 yolk per day | 1 egg (yolk + white) | Limit egg yolks; No limit on egg whites; If you have high cholesterol, have no more than 4 yolks per week |
| Red meat (beef, pork, veal and lamb) | None, or no more than 1 serving per week | 3 ounces | Limit to lean cuts, such as tenderloin, sirloin and flank steak |
| Wine (optional) | 1 serving per day (females); 2 servings per day (males) | 1 glass (3 ½ ounces) | If you don’t drink, the American Heart Association cautions you not to start drinking; Talk to your healthcare provider about the benefits and risks of consuming alcohol in moderation |
| Baked goods and desserts | Avoid commercially prepared baked goods and desserts; Limit homemade goods to no more than 3 servings per week | Varies by type | Instead, choose fruit and nonfat yogurt; Bake using liquid oil instead of solid fats; whole grain flour instead of bleached or enriched flour; egg whites instead of whole eggs |
Energy Density: Feeling Full on Fewer Calories
Feel full on fewer calories? It might sound like another gimmick for weight loss, but it's not. Simply put, energy density is the number of calories (energy) in a specific amount of food. High energy density means that there are a lot of calories in a small amount of food. When you're striving for weight loss, one strategy is to eat low-energy-dense foods. That is, you want to eat a greater amount of food that contains less calories.
Examples of Energy Density
Here's a quick example with raisins and grapes. Raisins have a high energy density - 1 cup of raisins has about 480 calories.
Factors Affecting Energy Density
- Water: Fruits and vegetables generally have high water and fiber content, which provide volume and weight but not calories. That's why they're low-energy-dense foods.
- Fiber: High-fiber foods not only provide volume but also take longer to digest, making you feel full longer on fewer calories.
- Fat: Fat is high in energy density.
Practical Applications of Energy Density
Changing lifestyle habits is never easy. And creating an eating plan using the energy-density concept is no exception. Most vegetables are very low in calories but high in volume or weight. Most vegetables contain water and fiber, which provides weight without calories. To add more vegetables to your diet, top your pasta with sauteed vegetables instead of meat or cheese sauce. Decrease the meat portion on your plate and increase the serving of vegetables. Add vegetables to your sandwiches.
Nearly all types of fruit fit into a healthy diet. But some fruits are lower calorie choices than others are. Whole fresh, frozen and canned fruits without syrup are good options. To fit more fruits into your diet, add blueberries to your cereal in the morning. Try mango or peach slices on whole-wheat toast with a little peanut butter. Or toss some mandarin orange and peach slices into a salad.
Many carbohydrates are either grains or made from grains, such as cereal, rice, bread and pasta. Emphasize whole grains by simply choosing whole-grain options instead of refined grains, including foods made with sugar or white flour.
These include food from both plant and animal sources. While fats are high-energy-dense foods, some fats are healthier than others. Include small amounts of healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats in your diet. Nuts, seeds and oils, such as olive, flaxseed and safflower oils, contain healthy fats.
Like fats, sweets are typically high in energy density. Good options for sweets include those that are low in added fat and contain healthy ingredients, such as fruits, whole grains and low-fat dairy. The keys to sweets are to keep the serving size small and the ingredients healthy.
When you stick to the concept of energy density, you don't have to feel hungry or deprived. By including plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains in your diet, you can feel full on fewer calories.
Addressing Fatigue: Lifestyle and Dietary Adjustments
According to the NHS in the UK, the following are ways to fight tiredness and fatigue:
- eating regular meals and healthy snacks every 3 to 4 hours, rather than a large meal less often
- exercising regularly
- losing weight (if your body is carrying excess weight)
- sleeping well, which includes going to bed and getting up in the morning at the same time every day
- avoiding caffeine in the evening if you are having trouble sleeping
- reducing stress
Foods Rich in Fatigue-Fighting Nutrients
- Vitamin B12: clams, mussels, crabs, dairy products, eggs
- Folic acid: dark leafy greens, legumes, citrus fruits
- Vitamin C: strawberries, kiwi, bell peppers, oranges, broccoli, tomatoes
- Magnesium: nuts and seeds, legumes, whole grains
- Zinc: oysters, red meat, poultry, shellfish, legumes