Nutritional composition of weight loss diets published on a quick search website
Abstract
Introduction: The incessant search for simple and quick methods to lose weight makes the population look for diets in the media. However, the composition of these diets seems to differ from recommendations. Objective: To evaluate the nutritional composition of weight loss diets published on a quick search website. Materials and methods: Descriptive study including websites found on Google, from July 10 to 31, 2023. The terms were applied individually in the search field: diet to lose weight, diet to lose weight, diet to lose fat, diet to dry the belly and diet to lose weight fast. The first three pages for each term were selected, and websites that presented menus with described amounts of food were included. The nutritional composition was calculated in the WebDiet program and the results were compared with the Dietary Reference Intakes recommendations. Results and discussion: Menus from 23 websites were included. The average total energy value was 1246.6 ± 372.6 kcal, with the majority of sites classified as restrictive diets. The composition of the diets in general was low in carbohydrates, only 39.1% met the recommendations; and rich in proteins and lipids (87.0% and 73.9% met recommendations, respectively). Less than half of the diets were adequate in fiber (30.4%), iron (43.5%), calcium (13%) and zinc (21.7%). Regarding vitamin C, the majority was adequate (78.3%). Conclusion: Weight loss diets published on quick search websites have a very low daily energy value, in addition to being deficient in carbohydrates, fiber and micronutrients
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