Weight loss: sirt food diet for losing weight?
It sounds tempting: The sirt food diet, also known as the sirt diet or sirtuin diet, aims to stimulate metabolism and fat loss, and muscle building should also benefit. But how effective is this weight loss method really?
The Sirtfood Diet promises to lose weight without counting calories, staying young and fit. This form of nutrition relies on the power of the body’s own sirtuins, which can be switched on by reducing calorie intake and eating more plants. But how effective is it?
Similar effect as a food break
As the Federal Center for Nutrition (BZfE) explains in a recent report , sirtuins are enzymes that control important metabolic and aging processes. They are believed to be activated with reduced calorie intake when the body is under stress. These enzymes stimulate the metabolism, scavenge free radicals and set repair mechanisms in motion.
Sirtuins can presumably also be activated and supported by various phytochemicals. This is the basis of the Sirtfood diet concept: the targeted selection of plant-based foods is intended to achieve an effect similar to that of taking a break from eating.
These include fruits like citrus, apples and berries, green leafy vegetables, cabbage, legumes and spices like turmeric, cinnamon and garlic. Quality olive oil and cashews are also high in sirtuin-activating botanicals, while white flour and sugar are avoided.
Short-term diets are rarely successful
The diet is usually divided into different phases. In the first three days, drink plenty of fluids, such as green juices and smoothies, and limit calorie intake to 800 to 1,000 kilocalories per day. In the following four days, the calorie intake is increased slightly until, in the last phase, a large amount of sirt food is eaten without restrictions.
The BZfE points out that the Sirtfood diet is a plant-based diet that is said to have a positive long-term effect on health. However, it is important to feed the body a balanced diet overall and to provide it with all nutrients.
As a diet, it is more suitable for people who only want to lose a little weight or maintain their figure, according to an “ Online Spezial ” (BZfE, PDF) by the BZfE. It has not yet been conclusively clarified whether the secondary plant substances actually activate sirtuins and thereby promote weight loss. The anti-aging effect cannot be clearly demonstrated either.
Short-term diets that result in rapid weight loss are generally rarely successful because they can lead to the yo-yo effect. The best way to achieve your desired weight is step by step: eat a balanced and healthy diet (possibly think about changing your diet) and move a lot.
