Eat Until You're Full and Still Lose Weight - it's True!

Robert W. Griffith, MD

Scientists at the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Penn State have invested time and energy in studying the benefits of reducing dietary energy density. This is known as the Volumetrics Eating Plan, and it's a very logical approach to weight control. Eating food low in energy density (i.e. comparatively low calories per gram) decreases calorie intake, so that you should lose weight, provided you keep up the same energy expenditure (physical activity). The way to achieve this is toad water-rich foods, like fruit and vegetables, and limit fat intake.

This approach was used in a study reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The Penn scientists allocated 97 obese women to either reduced fat intake, or to reduced fat intake plus increased intake of water-rich foods. The participants in both groups could eat as much as they liked under these conditions. They met weekly with a dietician during the first 6 months, and then attended group meetings monthly for the second 6-month period.

After 6 months the women in the fruit & vegetable group had lost 1/3 more weight than those in the control (reduced fat only) group. After 1 year, the fruit & vegetable women had lost, on average, 17½ lbs, while the low-fat only controls had lost 14 lbs. The reduction in fat intake was similar in each group, but the fruit & vegetable group had eaten a greater weight of food, and reported less hunger than the control group.

This looks a pretty good sort of non-diet, to me. It's so simple that many dieticians would be put out of business if we all adapted it. Not to mention fast-food joints. But before you start, read an opposing viewpoint; there may be some problems with volumetrics.

Source
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