5 books about proper nutrition, written in clear language

What is the secret to a healthy diet? The goal is to ensure that, along with food, the body receives all the nutrients it needs in the right quantities. Another important difference between a healthy diet is maintaining a balance between the individual’s physical activity and calorie intake. Only such nutrition can be called healthy and correct. A lack of nutrients or their excess leads to various undesirable disorders. Therefore, neither poor nor excessive diets can be considered healthy. The daily menu should provide a person with the amount of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, microelements and vitamins he needs. But these are the main components of any food that everyone knows about today. In addition to them, it is also necessary to take into account certain subtleties that are usually only interested in professionals. This refers to fatty acids, protein amino acid profile, digestibility, etc.

As you can see, creating a healthy diet is not that easy. But even if an impeccable scheme is developed, it still needs to be implemented in practice, which can also be difficult. After all, you need to stock up on certain products, distribute them over all days of the week, calculate them so that you get the right amount of nutrients in the right ratio for each day, etc. It is not always possible to calculate everything down to the smallest detail. Often, adjustments to a strictly developed nutritional plan have to be made on the fly. This can happen due to the lack of any product, lack of appetite during the time allotted for eating, etc.

A beginner who does not have a deep understanding of the principles of organizing a healthy diet will not be able to create a complete healthy diet for himself. But without it, it is simply impossible to effectively fight excess weight and create a beautiful athletic body. Therefore, today many people turn to professional nutritionists for help. The service of developing a nutrition program is not cheap, because it requires not only an assessment and analysis of an individual’s characteristics, but also precise mathematical calculations, the formation of graphs, diagrams, etc.

In addition to professional nutritionists, various modern applications for smartphones and computers can provide assistance in developing a healthy diet. Simple programs allow you to accurately calculate calories consumed and burned, so you can accurately maintain a balance between these two categories. Of course, you will have to weigh each portion of food, which can create certain difficulties. It is also worth considering that not all programs are capable of providing error-free calculations. And the very need to enter every bite you eat into your smartphone cannot be called pleasant.

But is there any other way to develop the right diet without a professional nutritionist, without calculations and strict control? How to eat healthy, but varied? How not to think about not eating too much? The answer to all these questions was given by Oleg Tern: the Fifteen Diet. This original nutrition system, developed by Ukrainian psychotherapist and nutritionist Oleg Tern, allows you to eat a balanced diet without tedious calculating the caloric content of your diet. Today we will talk about the features of this system and how to use it correctly.

Fifteen Highlights

The daily menu looks like the famous children's game Tag. This is precisely why the diet gets its name. Products combined in a certain way can be distributed over the number of meals you need. But beginners are advised to take the standard four meals as a basis - in the morning, at lunch, in the evening and a snack between lunch and dinner. In accordance with this nutrition system, not only food is rationed, but also high-calorie and caffeine-containing drinks.

Determining portion size using this system is very simple: the correct portion is no larger than the size of your fist. It’s very easy to navigate this way. No need to weigh anything. The fist is a proportional part of the body, forming an organic whole with it. Therefore, a serving size equal to a fist will suit your body. Don't try to be extremely accurate. Size matching may be approximate. In this regard, convenience comes first and accuracy comes second. Small deviations will not have a significant impact on the final result.

As for the snack, it is taken between lunch and dinner and consists of fruit. But this is not a strict requirement. The required amount of fruit can be distributed throughout the day, and not eaten strictly in the afternoon. Each person determines this personally for himself, based on the level of his own appetite.

There is no strictly defined time for eating in this food system. You can eat when you have an appetite. The only recommendation concerns dinner. It is advisable that it takes place no later than 1.5-2 hours before going to bed.

Balance in the diet

It doesn’t matter what your goal is - to lose weight, gain weight, or simply improve your health and start eating right. In any case, it is recommended to start mastering the Fifteen diet by becoming familiar with a balanced diet. Thanks to this, you can easily enter into a diet and stick to it without unnecessary difficulties.

Who is a balanced diet suitable for:

• Anyone who wants to eat healthy and healthy, and not just lose or gain weight;
• Those who are planning to go on a diet to lose weight or gain weight in order to smoothly and without complications enter a new diet;
• For those who adhere to a long-term diet (a year or more) in order to lose a lot of excess weight, it is recommended to switch to a balanced diet once every six months to take a break from the diet.

General rules

The unique “Fifteen” diet was developed by Kiev sanologist Oleg Tern; his blog and publications in popular publications received enormous publicity and caused a public outcry.
Oleg Tern's tags are auxiliary didactic materials for creating an individual healthy balanced diet, which at the same time takes into account your level of physical activity and does not harm the body.

There are three power options:

• option 1 - balanced mode;
• option 2 - weight loss (up to 3 kg per week);
• option 3 - weight gain.

The first option is the most desirable; it allows you to get your health and figure in order within a year, and switch to proper nutrition. If your goal is to lose excess weight, then after 1-2 weeks of a balanced diet (the first mandatory stage of the spot diet) and regular weight control, you should assess whether changes have occurred in the body and move on to the second stage:

• if you are losing weight, then the number of calories consumed is equal to the amount of energy expended, perhaps you need to switch to the “weight loss” tag mode or simply add physical activity;
• if the weight has decreased, then, depending on the goal, you can continue in the same mode or switch to the “weight gain” system.

Oleg Tern's diet: features of creating an individual nutrition system

• the nutrition system does not require calculating calorie content or food composition, the choice of food is wide and flexible;
• The serving size corresponds to the size of your fist, so your guide is always with you and designed just for you;
• in order to create a balanced daily menu, Oleg Tern calculated not only the required amount of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fiber, vitamins , minerals, but also considered such subtle nuances as: the amino acid profile of the protein, the digestibility of nutrients and the level of consumption of essential fatty acids;
• the menu developed according to tags can be adjusted “on the fly” if the product is not available or you simply don’t want it at the moment;
• Using tags, you can create a menu and diet at your own discretion, but they still offer four meals a day, where one of the meals is a snack.

Meat serving size

Customize your Fifteen!

The Fifteen Diet looks complicated and confusing, but it's actually quite simple. When you set up individual Fifteens, it will be easy for you to eat right and in accordance with the goal that you have set for yourself. To do this, you need to monitor your weight for 2-3 weeks, eating according to the main diet. Since weight changes throughout the day, it is necessary to weigh yourself strictly at the same time under the same circumstances. The ideal option is in the morning after visiting the toilet every day. Weight control can be done several times a week or weekly on the same day.

If during the control period and subject to the measurement rules, the weight remains at the same level, this means that you absorb approximately the same number of calories as you expend. If your goal is to eat healthy without losing or gaining weight, then your diet is perfect for you at this time. Add sports to your life and you can significantly improve the condition of your body. You should stick to this diet constantly, returning to it after diets for weight loss or weight gain.

If you lose weight, it means you are taking in fewer calories than you burn. If you want to lose weight, then this diet is quite suitable for you. If you do not have a goal to lose weight, then the calorie content of your diet needs to be increased or the portions increased.

If your weight increases, it means you are taking in more calories than you are expending. In this case, you need to act in accordance with your goals. This diet is suitable for those who plan to gain weight. Everyone else needs to reduce calories or portion sizes.

All these comments apply to those people who did not abuse strict diets. If you have recently come out of such a limited diet, then you should wait a while, eating according to a standard diet, so that your weight stabilizes and you can draw the right conclusions about the relationship between the caloric content of your diet and your goals. Otherwise, you risk again becoming a victim of incorrect weight loss principles.

Preparing for the diet and its rules

First, you should eat at regular intervals, for example every three hours, and then you can select more convenient and correct intervals. A zigzag is allowed once a week, which means that on one specific day you can eat something forbidden or drink, for example, coffee with sugar. This principle is important for the psychological side of health, and at the same time metabolism can improve.

Before you start a diet, you need to decide for what purpose it is needed. As for losing weight, weight can fall either rapidly or gradually, but experts still recommend the second option. Depending on the purpose, you should choose products of a certain color.

Red chips

Under the red color are food products and a goal for rapid weight loss. If a person needs to get rid of extra pounds in a short time, he should give preference to the red category. It contains:

• seafood;
• lean meat (chicken, rabbit, quail);
• low-fat fish;
• low-fat dairy products;
• boiled chicken or quail eggs.

Orange chips

By giving preference to orange chips, weight loss will go smoothly, as nutritionists advise. Among the permitted food products are the following:

• wholemeal bread;
• potato;
• cereals;
• pasta.

Green chips

The following food products can be included in any menu, including:

• greenery;
• vegetable salads;
• vegetables that do not contain starch;
• mushrooms.

If a gradual weight loss method has been chosen, then the above products should occupy the main place on the menu.

Yellow chips

Yellow chips include only fruits or dishes prepared from them. But the following are prohibited:

• dates;
• figs;
• bananas and other sweet fruits.

From the remaining permitted fruits it is allowed to make:

• compotes;
• smoothie;
• fruit drinks without sugar;
• cocktails;
• salads with sour cream.

Blue chips

This category includes foods that will help you gain weight. They are mainly used before competitions or simply for insufficient body mass index. These products include:

• fatty dairy products;
• fermented milk products with the highest fat content;
• hard and soft cheese;
• fatty fish and meats;
• mutton;
• polished rice;
• pasta;
• any drinks.

The above products are completely excluded if you need to lose weight.

In addition to all the chips, there are also zigzags, which mean a break that occurs once every seven days. For example, on the fifth or sixth day of the diet, you can arrange a zigzag for yourself, that is, eat whatever your heart desires all day long.

The rules are the same for any goal, be it losing weight or gaining kilograms. You need to eat four times a day, with three main meals and one snack. The diet does not require strict rules, for example, if you are allowed to eat two or three fruits for a snack, they do not have to be swallowed at one time, because they can be spread out over the whole day. It is easy to determine the required size of a single serving; it should be the size of one fist.

All dishes must be prepared without heat treatment, since in this way all beneficial substances disappear. Products may be boiled, baked, steamed or in a slow cooker. Frying is prohibited. As for salt, it is better to eliminate it altogether or at least reduce it to a minimum; the same can be said about sugar.

If desired, you can add some of your favorite herbs and spices to your dishes. According to Oleg Tern, physical activity is also important in terms of losing weight and even when gaining weight, because it contributes to the beauty of the body and its fit.

A few words about portion sizes

We have already described the principle of determining the required amount of food for one meal. It lies in the fact that the serving size should approximately match the size of your fist. But from time to time the portion size needs to be checked. To do this, you need to weigh a portion of a protein dish or fruit. The average weight of a female portion will be from 140 to 160 grams, for a male portion - from 200 to 220 grams. Using these numbers as a guide will help you choose the right serving size and ensure that the technique of comparing serving size to your fist actually works. If you want greater accuracy, you can sometimes count calories in the menu you created. This will allow you to have no doubt about the accuracy of the diet.

Meal times

Beginners are advised to eat at regular intervals. This system will help you gradually identify the highest points of appetite throughout the day and shift your meals to these times. In accordance with the rules of this nutrition system, you can eat as often as you want, at any time. You choose the most comfortable diet for yourself. There may be four or more meals. Each portion of food can be eaten at once or divided into several snacks. But it is still recommended to start with a standard diet plan consisting of four meals. Practice shows that it suits most modern people.

Zigzag

Zigzag is a special type of psychological relief. It is necessary to take a little break from restrictions and rules, as well as to “accelerate” and “shake up” your metabolism. The zigzag is that once a week it is acceptable to drink any drink or eat any dish.

Essence and features

Organizing a healthy diet is a labor-intensive process. Despite the fact that this system of building a diet gives amazing results, not everyone has the time and desire to approach the matter responsibly. Of course, you can entrust the task to nutritionists, but their services are not cheap.

An alternative for all this is Oleg Turn’s “Fifteen” diet. By following its simple principles, you will be able to make your diet balanced, and for the long term. The weight will go away slowly but steadily, so the technique is considered rational. You won't lose a few sizes in a couple of weeks, but you will get rid of fat deposits in the long term without any harm to your health.

Oleg Tern is a Ukrainian psychotherapist and nutritionist. He has several popular weight loss techniques to his credit, which he outlined in his books, which have sold in large quantities.

Interesting: The advantage of the “Tag” diet is that it is suitable for people with any taste preferences and lifestyle, since the menu is adjusted individually.

At its core, this is not even a diet in the literal sense of the word, since the technique does not provide for a temporary restriction in food to quickly achieve results. This is a nutrition system that can be used as long as needed, or even adopted on an ongoing basis.

The “Tag” diet is suitable in the following cases:

• you don’t have problems with being overweight or underweight – you just want to eat right;
• you want to lose weight by revising your diet in favor of healthy foods;
• you have chosen a strict diet for yourself, but want to keep your figure in shape between applications of the main technique.

The creator of the diet suggests choosing healthy foods and preparing them correctly, without frying or smoking. Your favorite dishes become healthy, you get real benefits from what you eat, and your gastronomic preferences are not infringed.

The essence of the diet is that all products are conventionally divided into color categories. A nutrition plan is drawn up that resembles tag - a kind of playing field that includes 15 chips with products of different colors, arranged in 3-4 columns. Horizontal lines indicate the number of meals - 5 or 4, respectively.

Tags for weight loss

In addition to following the basic rule of losing weight that you need to burn more calories than you consume. It is also necessary to ensure that, along with food, the body receives the nutrients it needs, fiber and microelements. Indeed, when caloric intake is limited, the amount of substances entering the body also decreases. In a healthy diet for weight loss, this must be taken into account so that the body does not suffer from vitamin deficiency. Any serious deficiencies require compensation, otherwise the diet can be harmful to health.

When losing weight, you need to fight fat accumulation, not muscle mass. In order to lose fat, not muscle, protein nutrition is required. And to maintain good health and excellent mood, healthy fats and fatty acids are required, which enter the body only with food. To satisfy hunger and maintain a feeling of fullness for a long time, healthy and active intestinal function requires fiber, the source of which is mainly fruits and vegetables.

It is better to avoid high-calorie foods when fighting excess weight. Your diet will not suffer if white bread, fatty pork, grapes, bananas, and foods fried in oil are excluded from it.

It is equally important to adjust your drinking regime. Drinks high in sugar make up a large proportion of your daily calorie intake. Therefore, they should also be abandoned. They do not satisfy hunger, but they bring with them a lot of extra calories. It’s not difficult to give up on them, and the result of such a refusal will be very noticeable. If you give up sugary drinks and also reduce two servings of carbohydrates, you will get a daily deficit of 200-250 kcal. Even this will allow you to lose weight smoothly and moderately without harm to your health. While reducing your caloric intake, increase the amount of water you drink. Be alert to signs of fluid deficiency and immediately increase the amount of water you drink when they first appear.

Be careful about your body's reaction to certain foods. Some of them can fill you up quickly, but not for long. Others provide a long-lasting feeling of fullness. Most often, this property is noticed in chicken, beans, cereals, cottage cheese, and durum pasta.

If you know that you will have a significant gap between meals, then try to eat some of these foods to prolong the feeling of fullness and not suffer from hunger.

Diet "Tag"

The author of the “Pyatnashki” diet is Ukrainian nutritionist and doctor Oleg Tern. Its main goal is to improve the health of the body and change eating habits to healthier ones. A diet is a nutritional system that can be followed throughout one’s life, adapting to changing conditions and the individual characteristics of the body.

The “Tag” diet got its name because of the visual similarity of the table for creating a daily menu with the children’s game “tag”. The menu field is divided into 16 identical cells, with each horizontal row of the field representing a set of products for one meal, 4 meals in total.

Each color in the menu field indicates a specific type of product:

• green – vegetables (raw, heat-treated, pickled and canned), herbs, mushrooms;
• yellow – fruits and berries;
• orange – potatoes, flour products and durum wheat pasta, rye and whole grain bread, cereals;
• red – lean meat, offal, eggs, seafood, cottage cheese and legumes;
• blue – low-fat dairy and fermented milk products (except cottage cheese), drinks.

Rules of the “Fifteen” diet:

• Based on the list of products (depending on color) offered in the menu field, you need to create your own daily diet. At the same time, you can exclude products that you don’t like, replace one product with another within the same color (same group);
• The serving size corresponds to the volume of a fist. There is no need to achieve pharmaceutical accuracy; if the volume of food is a little more or a little less, it doesn’t matter. In grams, such a portion for a woman is 140-160 g, for a man – 200-220 g;
• heat treatment of dishes should be dietary: boiling, stewing, baking, steaming, grilling;
• your daily diet should include raw vegetables and fruits;
• you need to drink a lot of clean water. In "Tag" there is no regulation on the exact amount of liquid that you need to drink, since this is an individual indicator. Dr. Tern recommends focusing on the color of your urine—ideally, it should be colorless. The richer the color of the urine, the more the body needs fluid;
• You should exercise daily;
• One day of the week can be scheduled for a “zigzag” - on this day you are allowed to treat yourself to a prohibited product.

Three basic “Fifteen” diet plans have been developed: for weight loss, for weight maintenance and weight gain.

Diet plans for weight loss

You need to start losing weight with a balanced diet. Within 2-3 weeks you will select the most comfortable regimen for you, learn how to choose products wisely, and control your weight. if the weight is lost on a balanced diet, then you don’t have to make any changes to the chosen regimen. It is worth eating in accordance with it until the weight stops and remains stable for 2-3 weeks.

At the first stage of weight loss, nutrition is carried out according to a smooth pattern. High-calorie drinks are prohibited. You can eat only one serving of complex carbohydrates per day. The diet should be based on low-calorie foods. Good choices are lean fish and meat, low-fat cottage cheese, beans, and low-sugar fruits. It is necessary to eat in accordance with these rules until the moment when volumes and weight are established at the same level for 2-3 weeks.

When this goal is achieved, you can switch to nutrition according to the second stage scheme. It is more stringent compared to the first, as the number of days with low-calorie nutrition increases. The low-calorie diet differs in that the only serving of carbohydrate food is replaced with salad. The volume of food remains practically unchanged, but the calorie content of the menu drops noticeably.

There is no need to rush to move to the second stage. Practice shows that effective weight loss takes time, not self-torture. Therefore, let the body get used to it gradually, adapt completely. This will allow you to lose weight safely and maintain the results without much effort. While eating according to a gradual weight loss plan, you need to exercise. The diet will provide you with enough energy for regular fitness.

Menu

Everyone makes a diet for this technique independently, focusing on their taste preferences. The entire diet period is divided into 3 stages. At zero, you just select a suitable nutrition plan - create your own “Tags”, experimenting with different products. This phase lasts 2-3 weeks.

At the first stage, you need to start applying the selected scheme - give up high-calorie foods, follow the intended color plan. This phase also lasts 2-3 weeks. The second stage involves the introduction of low-calorie days, which can be called fasting days. There are no strict dietary restrictions, but the diet is dominated by foods from the green group. The duration of this period is determined individually depending on the desired results.

Sample menu for a week of the “Fifteen” diet:

• 1 day - for breakfast 2 boiled ears of sweet corn (not fodder) medium size, 1 chicken egg, hard-boiled or soft-boiled, cabbage salad for a snack, a light salad of green vegetables for lunch, a glass of kefir for a snack, baked with vegetables for dinner ( except potatoes) fish;
• Day 2 – for breakfast, a steamed omelet with herbs, some boiled green peas (not canned), for a snack, a berry-fruit mix, for lunch, baked fish stuffed with mushrooms, for a snack, a kefir-cereal smoothie, for dinner, a salad of tomatoes, bell peppers and boiled chicken breast;
• Day 3 – for breakfast the same salad as in the evening of the previous day, for a snack 2 apples and 1 orange, for lunch chicken liver stewed with vegetables, for a snack a fruit milkshake, for dinner fish and a salad of carrots, cabbage and radishes ;
• Day 4 – for breakfast, cottage cheese casserole with herbs, for a snack, fruit salad with low-fat kefir, for lunch, fish baked with vegetables in foil, for a snack, kefir smoothie with berries, for dinner, diet bread with slices of hard cheese and herbs;
• Day 5 – for breakfast, oatmeal, boiled in water half and half with milk, for a snack, a salad of fruits and nuts, for lunch, stewed cabbage with minced chicken, you can indulge in a piece of cake for dessert, for a snack, 1 chicken egg, for dinner, a salad with vegetables and boiled seafood;
• Day 6 – for breakfast, cottage cheese casserole with fruit, for a snack, freshly squeezed fruit juice (if it is too concentrated, then dilute it in half with water), for lunch, baked bell peppers stuffed with minced chicken, for a snack, dried fruits with tea, for dinner, 2 eggs and stewed broccoli;
• Day 7 – an omelet with herbs for breakfast, oatmeal cookies and fruit juice for a snack, stewed mushrooms with vegetables, boiled fish for lunch, a berry-fruit mix for a snack, a salad with vegetables and seafood for dinner.

Interesting: By analogy with this menu, you can create your own, replacing some products with those that you like better.

You need to follow a diet until the condition of your figure pleases you.

Tags for weight gain

The main question that worries everyone who dreams of gaining weight is this: how to gain muscle mass, not fat? Or at least how to maintain the required proportion of muscle and fat when gaining weight? The answer to this question is quite simple: muscle mass will be gained with a slight excess of calories and strength-type physical activity.

If you know that weight gain is not a problem for you, then increase your caloric intake very carefully. First, add another serving of carbohydrates per day, then increase your total calories slightly by eating more nutritious foods. For drinks, it is recommended to give preference to juices and milk. These dietary changes will help you shift weight quickly and easily. In order to gain weight smoothly, you need to increase your caloric intake slowly and train more actively, paying special attention to strength training. As a result of this approach, you will gain weight primarily due to muscle growth. An increase of half a kilo in 2-3 weeks is considered a normal indicator. If you are gaining weight faster, the gain is likely coming from fat tissue.

If gaining an extra kilogram is a real problem for you, then you should pay special attention to your training regimen. Muscles will grow when they receive the right load. If the workouts are done incorrectly, then even a significant increase in caloric intake will not provide the desired weight gain. If the situation is this way, then reconsider the principles of your training and add one more additional meal to your diet. In this case, it makes sense to consider enriching the diet with juices, fruit drinks, dried fruits and even special protein mixtures. But keep in mind that consuming specialized foods may cause excessive weight gain.

You need to adjust your diet gradually, no more than one change in 1-2 weeks. Carefully monitor your body's reaction to the adjustments being made. Weight should be added smoothly, gradually, slowly. Focus on the norm of 0.5 kg per week.

You need to eat so that your stomach is not oversaturated. To do this, distribute food evenly throughout the day. Don't leave long gaps between meals. By the time you eat your next meal, you should feel slightly hungry. If you don’t have an appetite by the time you eat, then you should change your eating and training regimen.

Sweets and fatty foods will not help you gain muscle mass. Therefore, it is better to abandon them or significantly limit them. But the diet still has a weekly zigzag.

Tags for vegetarians

For people who limit or avoid consuming animal products, there are several basic diet options:

• Vegan is a strict diet in which animal products are completely prohibited. Nutrition is based on the consumption of beans, vegetables, nuts, grains;
• Lacto-ovo vegetarian. Its difference from the first option is that milk, dairy products, and eggs are added to the strict menu;
• Fish vegetarian. The diet is replenished with fish;
• Pseudo-vegetarian or semi-vegetarian. The diet is supplemented with chicken. You can't just eat red meat.

People start following a vegetarian diet for various reasons. Their character may be ethical, moral or dietary. Whether to eat in accordance with these principles or not is a personal matter for everyone.

But, based on scientifically proven dietary principles, we can say for sure that meat cannot be eaten in unlimited quantities. When using it, you need to observe a certain moderation. It is better to replace excess meat with eggs, milk and dairy products, and seafood. This is the optimal solution that suits absolutely everyone. It has also been proven that older people may benefit from a vegetarian diet than younger people. In this case, it makes sense to consider a semi-vegetarian or lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet, and it is better to avoid red meat and animal fats in large quantities.

However, it cannot be said that a vegetarian diet fully complies with the principles of a healthy, nutritious diet. These two concepts will be synonymous only if the vegetarian diet provides the body with all the substances it needs in the required volume. First of all, you need to pay attention to amino acids, some minerals and vitamins, which usually enter the body with products of animal origin. Vitamins from food can be easily replaced with multivitamin complexes from the pharmacy.

Plant foods also contain protein, so if you select and consume them correctly and in the right quantity, protein deficiency should not occur. The presence of milk and eggs in the diet also solves this problem. Another possible source of protein for a vegetarian diet is special sports nutrition for vegetarians and protein powders made from milk and soy.

Diet duration and final results

The developed method of Dr. Oleg Tern talks about the duration of the diet, since after the diet itself you should adhere to nutritional rules for a certain time. The duration of the tag diet is not exact, since it all depends on how quickly the menu was selected. The diet itself lasts three weeks.

According to numerous reviews from people, the tag diet is impressive in its results; it can lose four kilograms a week. The positive side of this diet is that everyone can build an individual menu for themselves.

What foods to choose for a healthy diet?

The Fifteen Diet, reviews of which allow us to consider it one of the best for a complete healthy diet, involves the consumption of certain foods, divided into several main groups. There is variety in this diet, but you should choose among healthy and healthy foods. We invite you to consider the main groups of products suitable for this food system.

Protein sources

• Bird. The modern choice of poultry meat allows you to create a certain variety even on this point. Poultry is not only the usual chicken, but also turkey, duck, etc. This meat is relatively affordable and has high nutritional properties. Poultry is an excellent source of protein. If you want something unusual, you can always buy and cook delicious game, ostrich meat, and quail. Poultry by-products will also add variety to the menu. Poultry provides the body not only with proteins, but also with important microelements, especially zinc and iron. When choosing poultry, do not forget that its meat varies quite significantly in fat content. It is worth giving preference to less fatty parts, removing skin and fatty layers. As for cooking, it is best to choose steaming, stewing, boiling, baking. You can grill a bird a couple of times a month. For those losing weight, chicken and turkey breasts are an ideal source of protein with a minimal amount of fat.
• Eggs. Eggs are called the “ideal white.” This product owes this characteristic to its excellent amino acid profile. Eggs also enrich the body with minerals and vitamins. Some types of eggs contain valuable fatty acids. Egg yolk contains fats and cholesterol, so for quite a long time nutritionists considered it a product not suitable for a healthy diet. But today it is clear that it is quite acceptable to consume eggs whole, since their calorie content fits into the daily norms. There are exceptions for persons with heart and vascular diseases. They should not eat more than one egg per day. You can balance the concentration of nutrients by replacing 1-2 whole eggs with 2-3 whites. The calorie content will be significantly lower, but the nutrient content will remain approximately the same. Protein satisfies hunger well and allows you to maintain a feeling of fullness for a long time. It is recommended to boil eggs before eating.
• Red meat. The amino acid profile of meats such as pork, lamb, beef, veal can also be called good. Meat is an irreplaceable source of vitamins, microelements, creatine, and linoleic acid. Meat by-products are especially rich in vitamins and nutrients. The opinion about the dangers of meat, especially in relation to heart and vascular diseases and cancer, is based not on the properties of meat as such, but on the presence of a large amount of fat in it and the use of harmful processing methods. Indeed, it is harmful to eat a lot of fatty meat, as well as various sausages, frankfurters and other semi-finished meat products. Low-fat boiled, baked or stewed meat can form one of the foundations of a complete healthy diet.
• Fish and seafood. Another source of protein with excellent taste. Lean fish is one of the best ways to provide the body with healthy protein, essential fatty acids and not consume extra calories. Numerous varieties of fish meet the requirements of a healthy diet, which allows you to diversify your diet. Please note that marine fish, especially large and predatory ones, may contain methylmercury. Therefore, it can be present in the diet of pregnant women and children no more than twice a week. However, some types of sea fish contain less mercury and can be consumed more often. Squid, mussels, krill, crabs, shrimp, rapana - all these are tasty and low-fat sources of protein.
• Dairy products. Cottage cheese, natural yogurt, feta cheese, ricotta - all these products can be excellent sources of protein and calcium, provided they are low in fat. They can be eaten sweet or salty, as a main course or as an addition, in combination with fruits, meat, vegetables, etc. High-fat cheese should be consumed sparingly. It is best to use it once a week in a zigzag manner.
• Legumes. Although beans are rich in carbohydrates, they are also a source of protein. The same group includes the well-known meat substitute – soy. The content of phytoestrogens in soy products is not a reason to exclude them from the diet, since one serving of beans contains a small amount of phytoestrogens, which cannot have any effect on the body.

Fruits and vegetables

It has been scientifically proven that vegetables and fruits have a beneficial effect on health and life expectancy. Therefore, you need to use them as much as possible. The recommended daily intake is 5-8 servings. Here are a few facts about this essential part of a healthy diet:

• High taste characteristics. There is a variety of fruits and vegetables, among which everyone will find a suitable taste. You can find suitable options for any price in any season. Vegetables and fruits can form a wide variety of very tasty food combinations, both with each other and with other products.
• High benefit. These food groups are rich in fruit acids, vitamins, minerals, pectins and fiber. A city dweller experiences a constant deficiency of fiber, which negatively affects the functioning of the intestines and the whole body. Increased consumption of fruits and vegetables will help eliminate this deficiency.
• Low calorie content. A large portion of salad is 100% satiating and has a minimum of calories. You can eat vegetables even on a low-calorie diet. The same can be said about fruits with the exception of grapes and bananas. They are indeed too high in calories for those who are trying to lose weight, but all other fruits can be safely consumed.

Regarding vegetables and fruits in the diet, you can give several recommendations that will help make their consumption even more beneficial.

Pay attention to the color. Enrich your diet with fruits and vegetables of different colors. This will ensure a variety of nutrients entering the body. It is best to eat vegetables and fruits raw, but you can also boil vegetables and even eat some pickles. It is optimal to build a diet on seasonal products, since in this case the likelihood of getting healthy and ripe vegetables and fruits is much higher.

Sources of carbohydrates

• Porridge is the best source of complex carbohydrates. Buckwheat, oatmeal, pearl barley, barley porridge, rice - this group of products also has variety. The calorie content of porridges is moderate, and they contain quite a lot of useful substances.
• Products from durum wheat. Speaking about this group, one cannot help but recall the Mediterranean diet, one of the most effective in the world. In addition to the fact that this food system involves a high content of olive oil, it also contains a lot of durum wheat products: spaghetti, lasagna, pasta, ravioli. All these products should be present in a healthy diet, as they are highly satiating, have high taste characteristics and provide the body with the necessary substances.
• Bread. One of the most controversial products. Many people simply cannot imagine their diet without bread. If you are one of them, but want to lose weight or simply not gain weight, then give preference to wholemeal bread, rye bakery products, and pita bread. White bread can be consumed in limited quantities.
• Potato. Despite popular belief, potatoes do not pose any danger to your figure. It may well be included in the diet of those losing weight, but in a complete healthy diet it takes pride of place. You just need to correctly fit this product into the chosen scheme. If you cook potatoes without oil, then their calorie content allows for this perfectly.

Sources of fats

You cannot completely eliminate fat from your diet. It won't do anything useful. On the contrary, it is necessary to immediately provide sources of healthy fats: vegetable oils, seeds, olives, fish oil, nuts, olives, avocados, etc. A deficiency of fats can lead to disturbances in the endocrine system, which will lead to disturbances in mood, hair, skin and etc.

Strict moderation should be observed in the consumption of fats. They have a powerful effect on the body. In the right amount it is positive, in the wrong amount it is negative. You need to count about 15-20 grams per day. vegetable oil. It should be used as a salad dressing or as an additive to other foods. The equivalent will be 30-50 g. seeds or nuts. To prevent a deficiency of healthy fats, you can take fish oil capsules according to the instructions.

Authorized Products

The daily menu is stylized as a bright children's game, which takes into account not only solid food, but also high-calorie and caffeine-containing products (coffee, tea, mate). When creating an individual diet, first of all, you need to pay attention to those foods that best saturate your body and give a long-lasting boost of energy, most often these include:

• lean poultry meat (chicken, turkey, duck fillet, quail);
• eggs are considered an ideal protein with the right vitamin and mineral profile;
• sea ​​fish is a high-quality source of healthy omega-3 fatty acids and protein;
• legumes (beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas) are a storehouse of plant-based, easily digestible proteins;
• cottage cheese is one of the best options for a fermented milk product, providing maximum saturation and enrichment of the body with calcium, proteins, healthy fats, etc.;
• vegetable salads, puree soups and stews are mandatory components as unique sources of fiber, vegetable protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals;
• whole cereals and pasta made from durum wheat - do not underestimate cereals and unpolished cereals (rice, buckwheat, oatmeal) - they are very healthy and nutritious.

What is "zig-zag plus"?

We all know about the risk of slipping, especially at some kind of feast or when you really want cake or ice cream. For this purpose, the concept of “zig-zag plus” was invented in the tag diet, which is a kind of relaxation once a week, when you can fit your favorite, albeit harmful, product into the diet. The main thing to remember is that the portion should be no more than the size of a fist (usually up to 150 g), and if this concerns drinks, for example, alcoholic drinks, no more than one glass. Of course, if you are committed to intensive weight loss, then you don’t have to include such zig-zag bonuses in the system.

Table of permitted products