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When it comes to maintain your weight, a new study by Harvard researchers suggests that the quality of your food is more important than the number of calories.
Intuitively, we know that gorging on burgers and French fries and slurping down soda leads to more weight gain than eating fresh fruits, vegetables and brown rice . But in the most comprehensive and detailed study of its kind, researchers have understood exactly how much weight gain is associated with the consumption of certain foods.
The worst offenders were chips, which leads to more weight gain per serving than any other food, the study found. The best food for your waistline? Surprisingly, yogurt.
It is important, of course, how many total calories you take each day, but the authors say the age-old advice simply "eat less and exercise more" may be naive. For weight control over the long term - adults gain about a pound a year on average - the study suggests that people benefit more by focusing on diet right rather than less
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"In diet, conventional wisdom often recommended by" everything in moderation ", putting emphasis only on calories consumed, "said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at the Harvard medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, and lead author of the study. "Our results demonstrate that the quality of the diet - the types of foods and beverages we consume. - Is strongly linked to weight gain "
For each additional serving of potato chips eaten in a day, for example, people gained 1.69 pounds every four years Baked, boiled, mashed.. or fried french, each additional serving of potatoes was associated with an average of 1.28 lbs weight gain (considered separately, the fries were particularly unhealthy, linked to more than 3 lbs. of only gain). for complete the top five most fattening foods were sugary drinks, red meat and processed red meat, each associated with about 1 pound of weight gain every four years.
So why apples land particularly fattening? it's not clear. their next meal. other starches and refined carbohydrates such as white bread, white rice, low in fiber breakfast cereals, sweets and desserts can affect the body the same way, he said. (On average, the study showed that foods that have fallen into the "refined grains" and "sweets and desserts" categories were associated with slightly less of a weight gain half a pound.)
the results are based on data from three large trials, long-term government-funded research to diet, lifestyle and health in adults: study on the health of nurses nurses, who followed 121.701 women since 1976; health Study II nurses, which followed 116.686 women since 1989; and healthcare professionals follow-up Study, which includes 51.529 people registered in 1986. the new analysis includes . 20 years of data on 120.877 men and women in these three cohorts researchers tracked changes in lifestyle and food habits of the participants - and weight -. Every four years
in overall, participants gained 3.35 lbs., Or 2.4% of their body weight, in each four-year interval. In the 20 years of follow up, which amounted to a nearly 17-lb. hiking to scale.
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The data also showed that the consumption of high quality specific foods has been linked to a gain less weight over time ?. In fact, more daily servings people ate fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains and yogurt, less weight they gained. The discovery of yogurt - each additional day portion prevented 0.82 lbs. weight gain - was unexpected, Mozaffarian said:
While the plan was the "It deserves much more attention to determine if this is the cause and effect and, if so, why." more strongly associated with weight gain, lifestyle mattered too. The exercise was a great; those who most increased the amount they exercised gained 1.76 fewer pounds than those whose exercise habits changed the least. Sleep is also a factor: people who slept less than six hours or more than eight hours a night were more likely to gain more weight. And alcohol appeared to be an effective fattening, with each additional drink per day associated with 0.41 lbs of weight gain every four years.
Like many previous studies, the Harvard research found an association between television viewing and weight ballooning. "Watching TV has closer links with weight gain than other sedentary activities," says Mozaffarian, probably because it encourages snacking at once while watching and then, due to the influence of advertisements . food "Turning off the TV is very important - especially to improve the diet If the television is to be monitored, then it should be done without eating any food advertising or drink"
[the study found that while individual food choices have had modest effects on weight, diet and lifestyle changes as a whole accounted for large differences in the long term: people who made the least dietary changes gained nearly 4 lbs. more every four years than those who made the most of these changes them. "Small dietary lifestyle changes and others may well make a big difference - for bad or good." Said Mozaffarian "This makes it very easy to gradually gain weight unintentionally, but also means that little attention a handful of dietary lifestyle and other changes can prevent this. "
the point is that you should think about your diet and lifestyle in a holistic manner. changes in health should not be large, but they should be many would be unwise to assume that simply cutting chips, and do nothing else magically make you thin -.. but it's a good start
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the finding chips, Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition at New York University and author of Food Policy noted that the weight gain associated with chips and potatoes did not follow closely with what we know about how typical American eats. For example, how is it that the potatoes have been associated with more weight gain as desserts such as cakes, cookies and pies, which are the main source of calories in the average diet?
She says she may have less to do with chips in itself and more to do with the fact that people who eat chips can eat more calories and more comprehensive undesirable; Conversely, people who eat foods like fruit and yogurt are probably more health conscious. "I think it is likely that chips and fries are markers for diets of junk, and yogurt is a marker for a healthy diet," says Nestle.
The study limitations, including that it relied on the statements of portion sizes and use different serving sizes between foods. it also included a fairly homogeneous population :. white, educated adults
But generally, Nestlé said the findings echo the advice of nutrition experts to eat well "the study has a clear and consistent message. if you want to gain weight, eat junk food and soft drinks. If you want to maintain a healthy weight, eat healthy foods. This means following the basic dietary recommendations and the selection of relatively unprocessed foods - vegetables, meat, dairy products, cereals, fruit. And not drinking too much alcohol.
"It is not that calories do not count, in fact, they do, but it is much easier to control calories by eating healthily and avoiding junk food and sodas to deceive you. thinking you can count them accurately, "she said.
The study appears in Thursday's edition of New England Journal of Medicine .
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