Losing weight Is healthy food more promising than smaller diet portions?

How Does It Affect Weight When People Consciously Eat Healthier Foods?

When people try to reduce their weight, they often start taking smaller portions to eat less. However, researchers now found that sufferers should replace more unhealthy ones with more healthier foods rather than eating less to lose weight.

The researchers from the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Pennsylvania State University found in their current research that people should consume healthier foods for losing weight, rather than taking smaller portions. The experts published the results of their study in the journal "Appetite".

Consuming healthier foods results in fewer calories

In their study, the researchers analyzed how many meals the subjects consumed with different portion size. The physicians found that the healthier food-eating participants lost more weight compared to less eating subjects. Overall, participants consumed fewer calories as a result of the healthy foods.

Small portions lead to a stronger feeling of hunger

The results show that choosing healthy, low-calorie foods was more effective and sustainable than just giving up large portions with higher calories, explains Faris Zuraikat. If you choose high-calorie foods but limit the intake, the portions will be too small and you will probably be hungry, the expert adds.

Larger portions cause higher food intake

Previous research has already shown that the effect of larger portion sizes causes people to eat more. This can cause those affected to consume more calories than they actually want. The researchers designed an intervention to counteract this effect. They taught participants how to better control food and eat healthier foods.

How did the trained participants react to increasing portion sizes??

The experts examined a group of volunteers who were extensively trained on serving size control strategies. So the researchers wanted to find out if these participants responded differently to increasing portion sizes, as not educated people. "We were also interested in whether these untrained individuals with overweight and obesity or normal weight had different reactions," says Zuraikat.

Scientists examine over 100 women in their study

Researchers recruited a total of three groups of women to participate in the study: 34 overweight, 29 normal weight and 39 women who had previously participated in a one-year weight-loss study focusing on portion control strategies. All participants visited the lab once a week for a period of four weeks. At each visit, the researchers gave the women the same foods, but the portion sizes were slowly increased in a random order for weeks.

When the portion size was increased, people were eating more

Each meal consisted of foods with a higher calorie density, such as garlic bread and lower calorie density, such as salad. The foods were weighed before and after the meal. So it was determined how much the women consumed and calculated how high the calorie intake was. The scientists found that participants in all three groups ate more through the larger portions. For example, if the portion size was increased by 75 percent, the average consumption increased by 27 percent.

Trained participants consumed foods with fewer calories

However, when participants attended the training, they consumed fewer total calories compared to the other subjects. Although subjects in all three groups consumed similar amounts of food, participants who previously received training chose foods with a lower calorie density, the experts explain.

The choice of food was different for the participants

"All groups were served the same meals, but their choice of food was different. Participants who completed training received more low-calorie and low-calorie foods than untrained individuals, "explains Zuraikat in a Pennsylvania State University press release. Consequently, the calorie intake of the trained participants was lower than that of the control groups, although the weight of the meals did not differ.

Full plate, but the calories taken sink

The study supports the idea that less high-calorie food and nutritious foods can help reduce hunger and cause people to consume fewer calories, says Professor Barbara Rolls of Pennsylvania State University. People still have a full plate, but the proportions of different types of food have changed. (As)