Calorie density: the missing link between wanting to lose weight and the ability to do so

At its most fundamental level we all understand that to lose weight we need to do two things, burn more calories while consuming less calories. Beyond that it gets a little confusing fueled by the incredible amount of misinformation as companies and authors battle to capture a portion of the very large weight loss market.

So let's take it back to the basics. First off, if it was easy then we all wouldn't be gaining so much weight. The fact is as we age it gets tougher to do both from time demands from career/family as well as physiological changes in our body (it's hard to go for a run if your knees hurt after your first steps). But we also are increasingly becoming aware that if we don't do something about it our lives will be shortened and the quality of our later lives will be reduced as we become subjected to more obesity-related diseases like diabetes and dementia (yes, dementia).

So back to burning more and consuming less calories. To burn more calories we need to exercise. This should be the result of many little things done during the day (walk up stairs instead of taking the elevator, walking to lunch instead of driving, etc.) plus a regular exercise regimen. As a separate topic, for middle aged adults that exercise regimen must include resistance weights (additional information).

As for taking in less calories, it's no secret that watching portion size and avoiding sweets is a part of any proper eating program. So is eating a good breakfast to kicking on the body's metabolism. If this information was enough, we wouldn't have the weight gain epidemic we have, so there must me more to the story. Lately, researchers have been focusing on something called calorie "density" and it might be the missing link to the desire to manage weight and the ability to do so.

Researchers at Penn State's Laboratory for the Study of Human Ingestive Behavior have been studying calorie density and have recently released the results of a year-long clinical trial.

Anyone even vaguely familiar with dieting knows that at some point a diet has been promoted that focuses on increasing/decreasing fat, carbs or protein. Penn State says that this is the wrong thing to look at and instead to seek out foods that are low in calorie density that is provide fewer calories per bite. These would include foods that are relatively high in water and low in fat such as fruits, vegetables, soup, lean meat, and low-fat dairy products.

“Eating a diet that is low in calorie density allows people to eat satisfying portions of food, and this may decrease feelings of hunger and deprivation while reducing calories” said Dr. Julia A. Ello-Martin, who conducted the study as part of her doctoral dissertation in the College of Health and Human Development at Penn State.

“Such diets are known to reduce the intake of calories in the short term, but their role in promoting weight loss over the long term was not clear,” said Dr. Barbara J. Rolls, who directed the study and who holds the Helen A. Guthrie Chair of Nutritional Sciences at Penn State.

The researchers compared the effects of two diets – one reduced in fat, the other high in water-rich foods as well as reduced in fat – in 71 obese women aged 22 to 60. The participants were taught by dietitians to make appropriate food choices for a diet low in calorie density, but unlike most diets, they were not assigned daily limits for calories.

At the end of one year, women in both groups showed significant weight loss as well as a decrease in the calorie density of their diets. However, women who added water-rich foods to their diets lost more weight during the first six months of the study than those who only reduced fat in their diets – 19.6 pounds compared to 14.7 pounds. Weight loss was well maintained by subjects in both groups during the second six months of the study.

Records kept by the women showed that those who included more water-rich foods ate 25 percent more food by weight and felt less hungry than those who followed the reduced-fat diet. “By eating more fruits and vegetables they were able to eat more food, and this probably helped them to stick to their diet and lose more weight,” said Ello-Martin.

One of the authors of the study, Barbara Rolls, has written about about the diet linked below.

Amazon link to Dr. Rolls book: The Volumetrics Eating Plan: Techniques and Recipes for Feeling Full on Fewer Calories