Foods that cause obesity
And what about when or where people consume their calories: Does eating breakfast make it easier to control weight? Does eating at fast-food restaurants make it harder?It’s no secret that the amount of calories people eat and drink has a direct impact on their weight: Consume the same number of calories that the body burns over time, and weight stays stable. Consume more than the body burns, weight goes up. Less, weight goes down. But what about the type of calories: Does it matter whether they come from specific nutrients—fat, protein, or carbohydrate? Specific foods—whole grains or potato chips?
Any food can cause weight gain if you eat too much of it. But certain foods are more energy dense, meaning they have more calories per gram, which makes them less filling and makes it more likely you'll overeat these foods. It's the amount of food you eat that fills you up, not the number of calories. People who consume diets that are more energy dense are more likely to be obese than those who consume diets lower in energy density, according to a study published in "Diabetes Care" in April 2007.
Energy-Dense Foods
Conventional wisdom says that since a calorie is a calorie, regardless of its source, the best advice for weight control is simply to eat less and exercise more. Yet emerging research suggests that some foods and eating patterns may make it easier to keep calories in check, while others may make people more likely to overeat.
There’s ample research on foods and diet patterns that protect against heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. The good news is that many of the foods that help prevent disease also seem to help with weight control—foods like whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and nuts. And many of the foods that increase disease risk—chief among them, refined grains and sugary drinks—are also factors in weight gain.
Consume more low-energy-density foods, which are those with a high water or fiber content, including most fruits and vegetables. Fill your plate mainly with these foods and eat them first; then you'll have less room for the more energy-dense foods in your meal. You can also replace half of the amount you'd usually use of an energy-dense food with fruits or vegetables, such as using beans instead of half the meat in your favorite chili recipe.
Replacing red and processed meat with nuts, beans, fish, or poultry seems to lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes. And this diet strategy may help with weight control, too, according to a recent study from the Harvard School of Public Health. Researchers tracked the diet and lifestyle habits of 120,000 men and women for up to 20 years, looking at how small changes contributed to weight gain over time. People who ate more red and processed meat over the course of the study gained more weight—about a pound extra every four years. People who ate more nuts over the course of the study gained less weight—about a half pound less every four years.
Fast Food and Weight
Fast food is known for its large portions, low prices, high palatability, and high sugar content, and there’s evidence from studies in teens and adults that frequent fast-food consumption contributes to overeating and weight gain. The CARDIA study, for example, followed 3,000 young adults for 13 years. People who had higher fast-food–intake levels at the start of the study weighed an average of about 13 pounds more than people who had the lowest fast-food–intake levels. They also had larger waist circumferences and greater increases in triglycercides, and double the odds of developing metabolic syndrome. More research is needed to tease apart the effect of eating fast food itself from the effect of the neighborhood people live in, or other individual traits that may make people more likely to eat fast food.
The Bottom Line: Healthy Diet Can Prevent Weight Gain and Chronic Disease
Weight gain in adulthood is often gradual, about a pound a year (9)—too slow of a gain for most people to notice, but one that can add up, over time, to a weighty personal and public health problem. There’s increasing evidence that the same healthful food choices and diet patterns that help prevent heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions may also help to prevent weight gain:
Choose minimally processed, whole foods—whole grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, healthful sources of protein (fish, poultry, beans), and plant oils.
Limit sugared beverages, refined grains, potatoes, red and processed meats, and other highly processed foods, such as fast food.
Though the contribution of any one diet change to weight control may be small, together, the changes could add up to a considerable effect, over time and across the whole society. Since people’s food choices are shaped by their surroundings, it’s imperative for governments to promote policy and environmental changes that make healthy foods more accessible and decrease the availability and marketing of unhealthful foods.
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