A List Of Low Density Foods On A Volumetrics Eating Plan

If you'd like to use the Volumetrics approach for weight control, you'll have to get to know some low-density foods. That's the key to the Volumetrics approach developed by Barbara Rolls, a nutritionist and researcher at Pennsylvania State University. Basically, foods that are low in energy density let you eat more while taking in fewer calories. Rolls and her researchers have found that when people pump up the volume of these foods in their diets, it helps them control their hunger --- and their weight.

Water Content Matters

In her 2000 book, "The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan," Rolls outlines and illustrates the value of foods with low energy density. They include most fruits and vegetables as well as foods that absorb water during cooking such as rolled oats. The water content of these foods helps satisfy you in a way that's different from drinking a glass of water on the side, Rolls notes in a Penn State research report from May 2000 that water in food is chemically different than water taken as a beverage. It leaves the stomach more slowly.

Start With Fruits, Veggies

You can calculate a food's energy density by dividing the calories in one serving by its weight in grams. For example, smooth peanut butter has a high energy density of 5.9, while most fruits and vegetables rate below 1. Rolls' list of very low energy-dense foods --- 0.6 or less --- includes lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries, cooked broccoli, salsa, grapefruit, vegetarian vegetable soup, cantaloupe, winter squash, applesauce, carrots, vegetarian chili, oranges, blueberries and apples.

Reduced-Calorie Foods

Rolls lists many foods that are very low in energy density thanks to reductions in fat and sugar that lower their calories. Some examples are skim milk, fat-free Italian dressing, fat-free yogurt sweetened with aspartame and plain, nonfat yogurt. Some other foods are rated low in energy density --- 0.6 to 1.5 calories per gram --- thanks to high water content or reduced fat and sugar. These include whole milk, fat-free mayonnaise, regular and fat-free cottage cheese, 99 percent fat-free yogurt, fat-free sour cream, fruit varieties of frozen yogurt, vanilla pudding made with 2 percent milk, and fat-free ranch dressing.

Vegetables and More

A number of vegetables, and even some meats and fish, also fall into the category of low energy density. They include black beans, green peas, cooked corn, baked potatoes, orange roughy, water-packed tuna, extra-lean ham, roasted, skinless turkey breast and braised veal chop. Tofu, grapes and bananas rate low in energy density, as do some popular whole grain cereals with 1 percent milk. Low-energy-dense foods prepared with water include oatmeal, white rice and spaghetti. Rolls suggests combining foods that are a little higher in energy density with those that are lower to make them more volumetric --- for example, her recipe for chicken, rice and vegetable soup yields an energy density of only 0.5.