Americans spent an estimated $46 billion on diet products in 2004, according to MSN Money. Yet approximately two-thirds of dieters regained all the weight they had lost within a year, and 97 percent gained it all back within five years. Successful weight loss involves a permanent lifestyle change, hard to come by in a society filled with bakeries, snack machines and fast-food temptations. One way many people lose weight and keep it off is to focus on low-calorie foods that are also filling and keep hunger at bay.
History
Diets low in calories but high in nutritional content date back to at least 1979 when the book "Don't Forget Fibre in your Diet" by British surgeon Denis Parsons Burkitt became an international best-seller. This was followed by "The F-plan Diet" created in the 1980s by British author Audrey Eyton, founder of "Slimming Magazine." Another pioneer in the field was Roy Lee Walford, M.D, a leading advocate of high-density foods and calorie restriction as a method of life extension and health improvement. The most recent proponent of this way of eating is Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., author of the 2007 book "Volumetrics Weight Control" and professor at Pennsylvania State University.
Significance
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2007/2008, one-third of adults in the U.S. were overweight, with another one-third classified as obese. Obesity is a risk factor for a variety of chronic conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, stroke, heart disease, arthritis and certain cancers.
Features
Calories equal energy, and so a higher-energy food is a higher-calorie food, while a lower-energy food is a lower-calorie food. The main focus of the volume diet is that by eating more lower-energy foods, low in calories that are also high in volume, you'll feel fuller, less hungry and be less tempted to overeat and snack. Basically, you'll feel satisfied with fewer calories. The three factors of these filling foods are that they're high in water and fiber and low in fat. One reason this diet encourages adding more fruit and vegetables is that they're mostly water and fiber, with grapefruit about 90 percent water, with only 38 calories in a half-fruit serving, and carrots 88 percent water with only 52 calories in a cup. Fiber foods expand in your digestive tract, providing volume and also take longer to digest, helping make you feel full longer.
Benefits
Dr. Walford was one of the eight crew members who were sealed inside Biosphere 2 from September 26, 1991 to September 26, 1993, living in their own ecosystem and eating only food they could grow. After two years of consuming a calorically restricted, nutrient-dense diet, the crew had significantly decreased levels of blood glucose, total leukocytes, cholesterol and blood pressure. A study by Jenny H. Ledikwe et al of Pennsylvania State University reported in the June 2007 issue of the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" that patients who followed the DASH diet, which emphasized getting nine to 12 daily servings of low-calorie, high-density fruits and vegetables, and two to three servings of low-fat dairy products daily, lost an average of 13 lbs. over six months.
Recommendations
To reap the benefits of weight loss and improved health from a low-calorie, high-density diet, MayoClinic.com recommends adding more vegetables and more whole fresh, frozen and canned fruits without added sugar. You should also choose whole grains like whole-grain bread and pasta, oatmeal and brown rice because they are higher in fiber and other important nutrients. Protein sources should be high in protein but low in fat and calories, such as fish, skinless white-meat poultry, fat-free dairy products, egg whites, and beans, peas and lentils, which are also good sources of fiber. Dr. Rolls also recommends eating a low-energy-dense first course such as soup or a salad, which can enhance satiety and reduce meal calorie intake.
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