Six days without salt - minus 4 kg!

  • 2010-10-21
  • By TBT staff

RIGA - There is a diet called “Drainage” and its purpose is to get rid of excess fluid in the body and lose weight quickly. After 6 days of this express diet one can lose up to 3-4 kg. However, according to the nutritionists, this method has both advantages and disadvantages.

Extra kilograms are made of two components - fat and water that accumulates in the intercellular space because of our love for salt. Eating pickles, adding salt to meals and indulging in delicacies with lots of “hidden” NaCl (sausages, hot dogs, prepared food and fast food), we regularly exceed the daily dose of the “white death,” which is equal to only 9 grams. After that, everything happens according to the laws of chemistry:  the salty solution (blood) needs to dilute it with water (we get thirsty), which leads to the fact that the fluid stays in the body. As a result - swollen eyelids in the morning and swollen legs in the evening. Depending on the degree of the person’s love for salty food, the body can accumulate up to 3-5 kg of excess water. How to get rid of them? You should exclude the chief evil from the diet - salt! The drainage diet is based on this principle.

Forget about salt!
By embarking on the path of “drainage,” you have to forget about the existence of salt and where the salt shaker is. Salads, chicken breast and vegetables should be cooked without adding it. To deceive the taste buds and make fresh food more edible, you should sauce them with lemon juice, sprinkle with finely chopped greenery or Bulgarian peppers. According to the people who have already been on a salt-free diet, eventually you’ll not only get used to this food, but also discover new, clear taste of foods - fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, chicken. In order not to swallow a “hidden” salt by accident, you should not eat prepared food from shops or restaurant meals. However, the diet menu (except for unloading days) is quite satisfying, so you will not be hungry.

Tea, water and other liquids
Having given up on salt, do not forget about some other rules of dieting - eat five times a day, the food should be boiled or steamed, eat no more than 250-300 g at a time and do not even come close to the fridge after 7p.m.. If you get hungry late in the evening, you can drink a glass of nonfat kefir or a cup of tea without sugar. By the way, keeping to the “drainage” diet, do not limit the amount of fluid intake in any way: the rule is 2-2,5 liters per day. Without salt it perfectly cleans your body and then just leaves it. Drink still water and all sorts of unsweetened teas. Also very healthy is a vitamin drink, which can be prepared as follows. Squeeze the juice of one lemon in a glass of water, add a spoonful of honey (this can be done even in the office), stir and drink fresh. During the day you can consume 1 - 2 cups of this vitamin drink. This drink is not only rich with ascorbic acid and improves the immune system, but it really helps to lose weight. The honey that it contains reduces citric acid, and the drink becomes alkaline, and in such a medium the process of lipolysis happens faster.

Is it worth to suffer?
The “drainage” diet should not be used by those who have serious heart problems, diabetes or aggravated gastro-intestinal disturbances. If you are healthy and ready to live without salt, then six days later, given that you follow all the instructions you will become thinner by a few kilograms. Beware that once you begin to eat the usual salty foods, some of the weight will come back. In such case, is it worth it to suffer? Of course! You accustom your body to use less salt and eat healthy low-calorie food, and it is a direct path from the fast loss of water to a slow and gradual loss of fat.