The main assumption of the TLC diet is to effectively lower the level of bad LDL cholesterol. The diet was created by the National Institutes of Health, whose mission is to fight heart disease caused by high cholesterol and regular consumption of overly fatty foods. Therapic Lifestyle Change means therapeutic / healing lifestyle changes.
The diet is approved by the American Heart Association and recognized as a diet that reduces the risk of heart disease and is closely related to a healthy lifestyle. The TLC diet is not a typical slimming diet, but you can gently lose weight with low consumption of fatty products. The main rule of the diet is a significantly reduced consumption of saturated fat. It should be below 7 percent of your total daily caloric intake. The daily caloric requirement should be limited to the necessary level of maintaining a healthy body weight. The creators also emphasize that for visible results, the use of the TLC diet requires physical activity – a minimum of 30 minutes a day.
BENEFITS
The TLC diet is widely recognized as fairly cheap and simple because it does not require extensive knowledge from us. It brings positive lifestyle changes because it focuses on lowering cholesterol and requires systematic physical activity and changes in eating habits. After 6 weeks of using the TLC diet, the effects are noticeable: the level of bad cholesterol is significantly lowered and blood pressure is stabilized. There is a noticeable increase in energy. The products allowed in the diet are a source of fiber, thanks to which TLC not only regulates the amount of cholesterol, but also supports digestive processes. The diet includes specific groups of foods that should be included in your daily menu, thanks to which the menu itself is not monotonous. It is recommended to eat whole grains, fruits, vegetables, fish, poultry and low-fat dairy products. At the beginning of the diet, the creators recommend introducing products from the group of meat and beans, which include: fish, poultry, veal, beans and peas. These foods can be eaten up to two servings a day. Then you can add eggs, dairy products, fruit – from 2 to 4 servings a day. Then introduce 3 to 5 servings of vegetables per day. The next step in the TLC diet are grain products such as bread, rice or pasta – in this case up to 6 servings each day. The final element is sweets and snacks that should not be processed and must not contain fat.
DEFECTS
As mentioned earlier, the TLC diet is not a slimming diet, its main purpose is to lower the level of bad cholesterol. Weight loss may occur, but only to a slight extent, so this diet should not be used solely for weight loss. Another disadvantage is the mandatory reading of product labels. Not everyone is able to analyze the nutrient data provided, mainly in the ability to calculate the permitted dose of fat for a given day – for many people this is the greatest difficulty. In addition, eating in restaurants requires obtaining information on what fat a given dish was prepared on. The TLC diet is a radical change in eating habits and lifestyle, so success can be achieved by highly determined people.
