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Anastasia Balezdrova

In recent years, the media has frequently commented on the increasing incidence of anorexia among models, TV stars, actresses and singers who are idols of young girls. At the same time, the trend of fashion shows not to include models who are too thin is already global.

Dietician and nutrition specialist Michalis Tzoulis talked about the symptoms of anorexia, dangerous diets and healthy weight reduction in an interview for GRReporter.

The summer is the season of dieting and there are many discussions about the ways in which we can lose weight before appearing on the beach. We rarely realize, however, that drastic weight loss can cause serious health problems. Where does the limit of useful weight loss end and where does it start becoming a disease?

We should lose weight in a certain time frame - much earlier than the day on which we want to go to the seaside. It is preferable to set ourselves a goal to work towards at least as of January – February. It is best if we do it all year round.

According to the World Health Organisation, the healthy limit for losing weight is from 0.5 to 1 kg per week. This means that a person who wants to lose about 5-6 kg will certainly not be able to achieve this goal within a month.

The most well-known disease associated with rapid weight loss is anorexia ...

Anorexia is a mental disease. It usually affects women, especially at an early age - teenage girls have the greatest risk. It is much less common in men. Due to the nature of this disease, the main role in the therapy belongs to psychologists and psychotherapists, while the nutrition specialist should work under their supervision.

When should we be alarmed?

When there are very specific symptoms. One of them is when the body mass index falls below 17.5. Other factors that indicate the presence of the disease include:

- Obsession about our body appearance;

- Quick and very sudden weight loss, combined with obsessive visits to the gym.

Loss of bodily strength and lack of willingness to do anything are also indicative.

Is it always fatal?

The mortality rate is about 20 per cent. The disease can be cured, but for this purpose the abovementioned professionals need to coordinate their efforts. It is critical to establish the presence of anorexia at the earliest possible stage.

How can food intolerance in anorexia patients be explained?

As I said, the factors that cause anorexia are psychological in nature. They usually occur following stressful situations, such as sudden weight gain. In young girls, this can cause severe shock after which they try to lose weight in the same abrupt manner.

The disease can occur after a traumatic experience such as sexual violence, a disappointment in love, and other psychological factors that are more related to psychology than diet.

Strict diets cause various health problems. Can you describe what the damage to the human body is?

People who want to lose weight quickly tend to follow very drastic diets. In these cases, they consume very few calories - less than 700 to 900. There are instances in which people consume only 600 calories per day, and even less.

This causes a shock to the body, and it seeks ways for protection. Then all hormonal systems are struggling to cope with this situation and start functioning improperly.

Another factor that causes similar problems is bulimia. Thus, on the one hand we have a very sharp reduction in weight, and on the other hand - a sharp increase. But there is more: there are girls who force themselves to vomit. All this is a shock to the body and often leads to anorexia.

What happens to the metabolism and how easy or difficult it is to regain its normal functions?

You can be sure that when the body finds its balance and weight returns to normal, including by means of physical exercise, your metabolism will be restored very quickly.

Could you give examples of dangerous diets?

As I have already mentioned, these are

- Diets that restrict your calorie intake drastically;

- Diets that are based only on consuming protein and exclude diverse food, which is a prerequisite for a healthy body;

- Diets that exclude whole groups of foods;

- Diets containing no intake of fruit and vegetables;

- The so called "detoxifying" diets. These are diets according to which people eat only soup or fruit. They are sufficiently healthy foods, but cannot contribute to weight loss per se.

So, I would like to draw the attention of young girls to the fact that diets that contain only fruit or only vegetables, or only meat are very dangerous.

Diets that have been widely discussed in recent years provide a high intake of protein for a long period of time. These diets are very dangerous. They deprive the body of many essential ingredients, and, as a result, it starts defending itself and we cannot be sure what its "reply" will be.

What is your advice to young girls who want to achieve the desired body, but stay healthy at the same time?

Everything starts from the family. Because actually we are talking about teenage girls aged 16-18, I would rather advise their parents that they should be very careful when they see any of the symptoms we talked about earlier in their children and consult with experts.