Variable diet Ionova: recommendations and main secrets

Stop! No more strict diets and calorie counting! Just eat certain foods at the right times and lose weight! Get diet rules from Dr. Ionova and lose up to 7 kg per month!

Author: Kristina Lobanovskaya, doctor, practicing nutritionist Article updated: 11/10/2020

The treatment of obesity is dealt with by serious medical centers and venerable scientists in the field of nutrition, dietology and endocrinology. The best nutritional system for weight correction, at the last International Medical Congress on the Treatment of Obesity, was recognized as a technique called the “Pyramid diet”, developed in 2002 by the Russian nutritionist Ionova.

Lidia Ionova is a graduate of the Moscow Medical Institute. Semashko, the first Russian nutritionist to complete an internship at the Cambridge School of Obesity Treatment, founder of his own dietetic center in Moscow, author of a number of scientific works in the field of dietetics and the book “Healthy Habits”. In the process of creating a method for losing weight, the author used his own practical experience and materials from the American Association for the Treatment of Obesity.

Basic principles

Lydia Ionova's program is based on the following principles:

1. Weight correction should not be carried out by simply reducing the number of calories consumed, which often leads to a deficiency of nutrients necessary for the body. It involves using a diet that, while getting rid of fat deposits, would help maintain and improve health.
2. Losing weight should not be rapid or spasmodic. According to WHO standards, a stable rate of weight loss from 3 to 5 kg per month (depending on its initial value) is considered safe for health. A loss of 10–15 kg over a few weeks can cause great harm to the body, sometimes irreparable. And sudden changes in weight can destabilize metabolic processes for a long time, which can be very difficult to restore.
3. The process of losing weight should be comfortable. A person should not experience a constant feeling of hunger, otherwise failures from the diet, if it is long-term, are inevitable. It is quite possible to get rid of excess food without significantly limiting the amount of food you eat and having sufficient freedom to choose dishes. According to Lidia Leonidovna, the psychological factor, including a positive attitude, in the process of following a dietary regimen is very important for success.
4. The goal of Ionova’s program is not only to eliminate excess weight, but also to form lasting healthy eating habits. In the process of following this effective and easy diet, a person must change his eating habits in favor of foods that are healthy for the body, and eliminate the craving for “ballast” in the form of fast food, sweets and fatty foods.
5. An important aspect in maintaining the achieved results is a properly organized, balanced diet. If it contains a sufficient amount of proteins, fats, carbohydrates and vitamins, the body does not reconfigure itself to the “emergency storage” mode and the extra pounds do not return.

Lidia Ionova recommends sticking to the diet regimen for 3 months. But, as the nutritionist assures, while losing weight, most patients become so accustomed to proper, healthy eating that they no longer want to return to eating foods that are “ballast” and cause weight gain.

Availability of all product groups

Your diet only has a chance of becoming balanced when it contains the following food groups every day:

1. Protein products
2. Starchy foods
3. Fruits
4. Vegetables
5. Fats

There is also a group of dairy products, and in his book “Healthy Habits. “Dr. Ionova’s diet” I included it in the list of mandatory ones for daily consumption. But scientific developments in the field of nutrition are ongoing, and recently studies have appeared that talk about the possible negative consequences of regular consumption of dairy products, especially for men. Therefore, until absolute clarity appears on this issue (if it ever appears!), I excluded the group of dairy products from the mandatory ones.

Let me remind you that in addition to milk, dairy products include kefir, yogurt, fermented baked milk, and yogurt.

The main task before you is to include all five food groups in your daily meal. In this case, your diet will be balanced.

The protein group includes all foods containing large amounts of protein. These are various types of meat and fish, cottage cheese, cheese, eggs, legumes (beans, peas, lentils). Protein group products are the main source of complete proteins. They contain the entire set of amino acids necessary for the construction and renewal of cells in the human body.

Starchy foods include bread and baked goods, cereals, pasta, legumes (since they contain both protein and carbohydrates), and vegetables - potatoes. The main purpose of products in this group is to supply the body with energy.

The group of fruits includes, of course, the fruits themselves, as well as berries, fruit juices and dried fruits.

The group of vegetables , of course, includes all types of vegetables (including leafy ones, such as salads, spinach, etc.), and mushrooms. Vegetables and fruits are the most important suppliers of mineral salts (especially potassium salts), a number of microelements, organic acids and fiber.

The group of fats includes healthy vegetable fats: all types of oils (sunflower, olive, soybean, pine nuts and walnuts, flaxseed, etc.), nuts and seeds. Of course, this group also includes animal fats, but since we strive to reduce their consumption to a minimum, there is no need to specifically add them to the diet.

Advantages and disadvantages

Lydia Ionova’s highly rated diet has many advantages:

• it is fully balanced in macro- and micronutrients;
• easy to carry;
• has no contraindications and is suitable for everyone who wants to lose weight; it can be used for diabetes, diseases of the cardiovascular system and gastrointestinal tract;
• since the diet is based on the principles of healthy eating, it prevents the development of many diseases and helps improve overall well-being;
• gives excellent results for any degree of obesity.

The only drawback of Ionova’s diet, and even then with a stretch, can be considered the need to control the amount of food in the diet. After all, it is clear that if you constantly overeat, then even if you eat only approved foods, you will hardly be able to lose weight.

Diet features

Together with specialists from our clinic, we identified the main principles of the diet, which are discussed in Lydia Ionova’s book “Healthy Habits”:

• Comprehensive weight loss. Treatment without harm to the body.
• Weight loss is stable. Weight loss occurs smoothly, without disrupting metabolism.
• The diet does not have complex restrictions. It eliminates malnutrition and starvation, and there is the opportunity to freely choose foods.
• Healthy eating as a habit. A properly selected diet helps you get rid of the desire to eat “bad” food.
• The results obtained are long lasting. A special menu helps you maintain your ideal weight and prevents extra pounds from ruining your figure.
• No contraindications. The technique of nutritionist Lydia Ionova can be used by people suffering from hypertension and hypoglycemia.

Patients who have experienced the Ionova system are convinced that it works wonders.

Formation of the daily diet

The nutritional plan presupposes compliance with two basic rules: the use of foods that have a low rate of breakdown and the construction of a daily menu according to the so-called “food pyramid”, where a certain period of time is intended for each type of food. Food can be stewed, boiled, baked; it is advisable to avoid fried foods; salt can be consumed, but in small quantities.

Selection of products according to GI

The glycemic index (GI) is an indicator of the rate of breakdown of a product in the gastrointestinal tract. The faster a product is transformed into an energy source - glucose, the higher its GI. When digesting food with a high GI, the level of glucose in the blood quickly rises and to normalize it, the pancreas begins to intensively produce insulin.

However, this hormone also acts as a distributor and store of energy reserves. Excess insulin prevents the body from burning fat and causes it to be stored. In ancient times, when a person periodically ate until he was full, or went without food for a long time, the function of creating reserves “for a rainy day” was necessary, but now it creates problems with excess weight.

It turns out that foods with a low glycemic index are useful for weight loss. Little glucose is released from it and in order to obtain the amount of energy necessary for life, the body is forced to burn subcutaneous fat. Therefore, the diet should preferably contain foods with a GI ≤ 50. These include:

• fruits and vegetables;
• nuts;
• milk and dairy products;
• whole grain and bran bread;
• unpolished rice;
• buckwheat.

The GI is not much higher for black bread, potatoes boiled in their jackets, pasta made from durum wheat, barley and oatmeal, eggs, and sweet berries.

White bread has the highest glycemic index, followed by sweet pastries, sugar, jam, canned fruit with sugar syrup, white polished rice, mashed potatoes with butter, soft wheat pasta - these should be permanently excluded from the menu or present in very limited quantities.

Calculation of calorie intake

In order to create all the conditions for weight loss on a diet, it is necessary to take into account not only the quality of food, but also the number of calories it contains. It’s easy to calculate the calorie content of your daily diet - the calorie content of 100 g of each product needs to be multiplied by the weight of your portion of food for breakfast, lunch or dinner, then add up all the results obtained.

With little physical activity, the minimum amount of calories per day for men is 1300–1500, for women it is about 1000–1200. If you lead an active lifestyle, these numbers should be multiplied by 1.3. If you do heavy physical labor, the coefficient increases to 1.5.

Ionova's food pyramid

To ensure sustainable weight loss, foods should be consumed at times of day when they are best absorbed. Therefore, in Dr. Ionova’s system, they are all divided into 7 groups. The time of their use in the book “Healthy Habits” is depicted in the form of a pyramid for clarity, which is why the technique was called the “Pyramid Diet”.

The list of product groups is as follows:

• 1 group . This includes representatives of cereals: unpolished rice, buckwheat, oatmeal, pearl barley, as well as legumes - beans and lentils. They should be eaten before 11 am.
• 2nd group. It is recommended to include fish, seafood and meat in the menu from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• 3rd group. Dairy products should be consumed in the afternoon, from 2 to 5 p.m.
• 4th group. It is better to eat fresh or frozen berries and fruits from 17 to 19. The recommended list does not include mango and watermelon (due to the high glycemic index).
• 5 group. Any vegetables, except corn and mashed potatoes, since they have a fairly high GI, should be left for dinner and consumed from 19 to 23 hours.
• 6 group. These are vegetable oils and nuts that contain fats with low cholesterol. It is also allowed to include butter in the daily diet, no more than 20 g. The method states that fats can be consumed once a day.
• 7 group. Water - you need to drink about 2 liters, the required daily volume can be calculated independently, it is 30 ml per kilogram of body weight.

Drinking regime

A person weighing, say, 80 kg needs 2.8 liters of fluid. When forming this habit, the main task is to gradually, over the course of several weeks, increase the amount of water consumed per day to the norm - 35 ml per kilogram of weight.

This recommendation is for people with healthy kidneys. If you have any problems with the urinary system, be sure to consult your doctor! If you find it difficult to drink the required amount of water, start drinking clean water before meals and between meals. In addition, you should give up sugary drinks and juices (including freshly squeezed ones), replacing the latter with whole fruits, since their glycemic index is much lower.

Menu

The recommended menu was compiled by the Dietitian. It is not mandatory and can be adjusted at your own discretion, but taking into account the general requirements of the methodology and observing the time frame for consuming products. Food is taken 5 times a day. Breakfasts, lunches, lunches, afternoon snacks and dinners can be arranged according to the days of the week in any order.

First day

1. Buckwheat porridge with butter, green tea or herbal drink.
2. A portion of boiled shrimp or steamed fish, still mineral water.
3. 150-200 g of medium fat cottage cheese, a glass of 2.5% milk.
4. A grapefruit or two oranges.
5. Two medium-sized grated carrots or beetroot-carrot salad.

Second

1. Oatmeal cooked in water, a glass of water.
2. A portion of chicken fillet boiled in salted water, tea without sugar.
3. A glass of drinking yogurt.
4. A few tangerines or a couple of apples.
5. Tomato salad with herbs and vegetable oil.

Third

1. Pearl barley porridge with butter, a glass of herbal tea.
2. A serving of beef stew, unsweetened black tea.
3. A glass of 2.5% kefir.
4. Several persimmon fruits.
5. Cucumber salad with olive squeeze.

Fourth

1. Oatmeal with water, chicory drink.
2. A portion of boiled turkey meat, still mineral water.
3. A glass of 2.5% milk.
4. 2-3 baked apples (maybe with a spoonful of honey).
5. White cabbage salad with lemon juice and vegetable oil.

Fifth

1. Pea porridge with butter, green tea.
2. A portion of boiled squid or fish baked in foil, still mineral water.
3. 100-150 g of medium-fat cottage cheese, a glass of kefir.
4. Several kiwi fruits or 2 oranges.
5. Boiled broccoli.

Sixth

1. Rice porridge with butter, green tea without sugar.
2. A serving of stewed chicken or a couple of soft-boiled eggs, an herbal drink.
3. A glass of fermented baked milk or yogurt.
4. 2-3 pears.
5. Boiled beet salad.

Seventh

1. Buckwheat porridge with butter, unsweetened tea.
2. A serving of lean boiled beef or a steam omelette of 2 eggs, a glass of water.
3. 50 g hard cheese, a glass of yogurt.
4. A couple of apples.
5. Olive squeeze salad made from carrots and bell peppers.

Reviews and results of losing weight

Daria, 26 years old

I need to recover after childbirth and to lose weight I chose the “Pyramid” system. There are two reasons for this choice. Firstly, this technique was developed by a specialist, not an amateur, so it should not cause harm. And secondly, judging by the rules described and the proposed menu, it will not be difficult to follow the diet. I hope that the results will be as promised by the authors.

Margarita, 38 years old

I have been faithfully following the Ionova diet for a month, but I see almost no results. Is this the result - 3 kilograms in 4 weeks? Despite the fact that for me it didn’t seem particularly easy: porridge for breakfast, a piece of meat for lunch, an afternoon snack - a glass of kefir, and only vegetables for dinner. And then - counting calories for the day... We live at such a pace that we have absolutely no time or desire to bother our heads with this arithmetic. In short, I don't like this diet.

Vera Petrovna Denisyuk, 40 years old

My weight began to increasingly exceed the norm and I decided to get serious about losing weight. I spent a very long time choosing the right option. The main obstacles were not too young age and the presence of health problems. I read an article where experts speak of Ionova’s diet as one of the most effective and safe. I’ve been using it for three months now and am very pleased with the result - during this time my weight has decreased by 8.8 kilos. I’m not going to stop the diet, I’m still overweight, but the diet is easy to tolerate and sometimes I even allow myself to drink a cup of coffee.

How biohacking works

If we can get nutrients from natural products, we should do everything we can to get them this way.

There are about ten forms of vitamin C alone in nature. And in the pharmacy we can get one ascorbic acid. Moreover, if a person is in difficult conditions and does not have the opportunity to get the necessary vitamins, then, of course, it is worth replacing them with at least vitamin-mineral complexes. Or this is possible in cases where low levels of vitamins are reliably diagnosed. Thus, vitamin D deficiency in winter is absolutely typical for our country.

Biohacking is a very interesting topic.

When I read about it, I was surprised to realize that what I have been doing for 20 years can be called biohacking. Of course, first we schedule an examination, people get tested. But in the end, we help them change their lifestyle, improve their sleep quality, and increase physical activity. If necessary, we prescribe medications. As a result, people's productivity increases, the amount of energy increases, weight decreases, and all biochemical indicators return to normal. It turns out that it was recently called biohacking.

If we are talking about Serge Fage's article, then, of course, there is something to argue about. For example, about the number of psychotropic medications he takes without a doctor’s prescription. The issue of their use should be resolved with a specialist.

Vegetarianism is different from vegetarianism.

There are people who boast of their vegetarianism, but at the same time eat completely incorrectly, unhealthy and chaotically. And there are people who eat in an absolutely healthy way: they eat fish twice a week, and the rest of the time - vegetable protein. If, with the help of a doctor, an absolutely balanced diet is selected, then a plant-based diet actually leads to an increase in our life expectancy and a decrease in biological age.

All the healthy habits that I convey to clients are habits of my lifestyle.

The first rule is regular eating. The second rule is moderation. Third, sleep for 7-9 hours. Fourth is a sufficient amount of vegetables and fruits daily. Fifth, a minimum of simple carbohydrates and saturated fats in the diet.