They are becoming more and more fashionable personalized diets online.
If you type the word "diet”On the search engines, you come across about 80 million entries. While an investigation of the telematics security site Intel Security revealed that among the most clicked sites there are the portals dedicated to slimming, which propose food programs to be followed at a distance.
Notably, online researchers found that the 64% of the townspeople have consulted one of these sites at least once and that almost 25% have signed up for a weight loss program, but without first verifying the seriousness of the diet.
Are these proposals reliable? And how to orient yourself in the choice? We look for the answers with the advice of the doctor Luca Speciani, doctor and nutritionist in Oreno di Vimercate (Monza).
The community fosters motivation
American researchers from Johns Hopkins University evaluated 200 diets prescribed via the web: more than 80% were not supervised by licensed doctors and specialists. But, apparently, if a serious program is identified, it is possible to obtain results comparable to those of classic diets, if not even better.
The confirmation comes from a study of the Aidap Nutritional Rehabilitation Center in Oliveri (Messina): those who follow a diet telematics done you can lose up to 3% of extra kilos and maintain the weight you have achieved for a longer time.
Among the reasons there seems to be also and above all the fact that you are empowered more than what happens with traditional diets: this is highlighted by a Dutch survey published in the Journal of Nutrition, according to which online food programs favor communication and debate among patients through chats and blogs, helping the motivation.
Tips for avoiding scams
But how to avoid the scams? “First, it's good check who is in charge of the diet program and get as much information about the staff as possible. So, before you sign up, it's best contact the single reality and have a detailed explanation of what the method consists of, and then submit it to the attention of a trusted doctor », suggests Dr. Speciani.
The best sites they are what they predict a first visit to the center instead of just filling out an online questionnaire. «The program must then propose a personalized slimming regimen, exclude people with chronic diseases such as diabetes and indicate credible results.
Also beware of sites-mirror for the larks, whose real goal is only to sell diet pills and supplements ». A risk also confirmed by a study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
Finally, look at the address of the sites: Intel Security cybersecurity experts have intercepted many links that play on assonance with popular diet programs.
