The TLC Diet Plan is one of the few diet plans that is consistently rated as the best diet by medical experts around the world. This diet is designed to improve heart health and lower cholesterol by combining a healthy diet with lifestyle changes and effective weight loss plans. In addition, the TLC diet plan may also have the potential to control other health conditions by controlling blood glucose and blood pressure and maintaining waist circumference.
What Is TLC Diet?
The TLC Diet (Therapeutic Lifestyle Modification Diet) is a healthy eating plan that focuses on improving heart health and function. The National Institutes of Health created this diet plan to lower the risk of heart disease and stroke. The diet’s main purpose is to minimise total cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol, keep arteries free, and improve heart health. This diet plan consists of elements of diet, exercise and weight control to protect the heart from disease.
This is different from other diet regimes where the TLC diet is meant to be followed for the long term and is considered more of a lifestyle modification than a fad diet.
Other health benefits associated with the TLC diet include better immunological function and decreased oxidative stress, to mention a few.
How Does TLC diet work?
Essentially, the TLC diet menu is a combination of dietary and lifestyle modifications that have been shown to improve heart health. More specifically, it entails altering the kinds of fats you consume and upping your consumption of nutrients that are good for you, such soluble fibre and plant sterols, which can lower cholesterol. To help with weight management and cardiac muscle strengthening, it also combines dietary adjustments with increased physical activity.
The Main Guidelines For The TLC Diet Include:
- Consume only enough calories to maintain a healthy weight.
- Daily calorie intake should be between 25 and 35 percent from fat.
- Saturated fat should make up no more than 7% of daily calories.
- Aim for less than 200 mg of dietary cholesterol each day.
- Consume 10–25 grammes of soluble fibre each day.
- Every day, consume two grammes or more of plant sterols.
- Get in daily moderate-intensity exercise for at least 30 minutes.
To boost your intake of fibre, you basically need to eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds on this diet.
It’s also advised to engage in 30 minutes of physical activity every day, which can include cycling, walking, running, or swimming.
Benefits of TLC Diet
The major goals of the TLC diet menu are to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. Following the TLC diet for six weeks resulted in extraordinary drops in total cholesterol and triglyceride levels, according to a number of pieces of data. Due to the diet’s promotion of increased soluble fibre consumption, which is linked to lower cholesterol levels and a decreased risk of heart disease. Additionally, a regimen that includes regular exercise and consumes less saturated fat can assist to keep LDL cholesterol levels stable.
Other Benefits Include
Promotes Immune Function: This eating regimen greatly strengthens immune defence and improves general health.
Manages Weight: Engaging in regular physical exercise, reducing fat intake, keeping calorie intake steady, and boosting soluble fibre intake all work well to encourage long-term weight loss.
Blood Sugar Control: A high intake of dietary fibre helps to slow down meal digestion and controls blood glucose spikes.
Prevents Oxidative Stress: The TLC diet is rich in advantageous plant components that lessen the oxidative stress brought on by free radicals, which is associated with a lower chance of developing chronic disease.
Maintain Blood Pressure: Increased consumption of soluble fibre and plant sterols help to maintain blood pressure.
Foods to Eat in TLC Diet
Foods to include in the TLC diet menu:
- Fruits: Peaches, oranges, pears, bananas, melons, apples, and bananas
- Vegetables: Kale, spinach, cucumber, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, and
- Whole grains: Brown rice, quinoa, and other whole grains
- Legumes: peas, beans, lentils, and chickpeas
- Nuts: Walnuts, chestnuts, cashews, and almonds
- Seeds: Chia, flax, and hemp seeds are examples of seeds.
- poultry: skinless chicken and turkey
- fish and seafood: pollock, flounder, salmon, and cod
Foods To Avoid in TLC diet
This diet discourages the consumption of foods high in cholesterol and saturated fat, such as fatty cuts of meat, processed meats, egg yolks, and dairy products with high fat content. To keep calorie and fat intake within the advised range, processed and fried meals should also be avoided.
- Red meat: Red meat includes fatty cuts of beef, hog, and lamb.
- Processed meat: hot dogs, sausage, and bacon
- Poultry with skin: chicken and turkey
- Dairy items with added fat yoghurt, cheese, milk, and butter
- Processed foods, such as crackers, cookies, and baked goods
- Fried meals include French fries and donuts.
- Egg whites
- Egg yolks
Conclusion:
To achieve long-term lifestyle changes that promote lower cholesterol levels and improve heart health, the Therapeutic Lifestyle Change (TLC) diet pattern combines nutrition and exercise. In addition to these, it might also improve blood sugar levels, oxidative stress, and immunological response. This diet focuses mostly on consuming fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds while limiting foods rich in fat and cholesterol. The TLC diet may therefore have a long-term beneficial effect on general health when used as a lifestyle modification as opposed to a fad diet.