You need to consume fewer calories if you want to lose weight, right?
According to a recent study, its incorrect.
The research, which was released in February in JAMA and covered by the New York Times, demonstrated that people who followed the fundamentals of a healthy diet — eating more whole foods and vegetables and less sugar, refined grains, and processed foods — lost a significant amount of weight over the course of a year.
You need to consume less calories if you want to lose weight, right? Untrue, according to a recent study.
According to the study, which was published in the journal JAMA in February and was reported on by the New York Times, people who adhered to the basic rules of a healthy diet—eating more whole foods and vegetables and less sugar, refined grains, and processed foods—lost a significant amount of weight over the course of a year.
A diet guarantees simple and rapid weight loss:
Although difficult and slow, habit change is feasible, according to Markey. “Anytime something is described as quick and simple, it’s typically a lie.”
Why It Functions:
According to Dr. Melina Jampolis, physician nutritionist and founder of SpiceFit, “the study showed that [the people tested] were able to reduce calories long term more easily, suggesting much better appetite control, which is an important factor as hunger is one of the main reasons diets fail over time.
A whole foods diet high in veggies makes you feel fuller while consuming fewer calories (and more nutrients), making it simpler to maintain over time.
She explains that this is in part because nutrient-dense foods make you feel fuller and satisfied for a longer period of time.
“After eating a bag of chips, you can quickly become hungry again. A protein- or whole-grain snack, however, is digested more slowly and helps to stave off hunger. Unfortunately, when people try to cut back on their food intake, they tend to overeat and become food obsessed “like, say, keeping track of calories.
According to Dr. Albers, her patients frequently object to calorie tracking since they had a negative experience with having to list each and every food they consumed.
The study receives “two thumbs up” from Dr. Susan Albers, the New York Times bestselling author of EatQ and Eating Mindfully for Teens!
According to her, “counting calories is frequently a prescription for increasing rather than decreasing worry about food.”
“If they have previously kept track of their calories, my clients frequently baulk at the prospect of doing so again.
They acknowledge how obsession-inducing the procedure may be. Alternately, it turns into a calorie counting exercise that makes people unwilling to either admit to themselves or write it down.”
What It Misses:
The message shouldn’t be that calorie counting is no longer necessary. Regardless of how “good” your food is, you must have a calorie deficit in order to lose weight.
“The idea behind calorie counting is generally sound.
Increasing your awareness of how much you eat is the goal “Dr. Albers explains. In general, research shows that people greatly underestimate how many calories they consume each day.
Dr. Jampolis, who spoke with the study’s principal investigator, adds:
“When consuming nutrient-dense foods, portion size is still crucial since, at the end of the day, calorie amount is just as essential as calorie quality. Even though they weren’t officially instructed to do so in the trial, all of the dieters [in the study] lowered their caloric intake to lose weight.”
In the end, what matters is to think about the kind of calories you’re consuming. Not all calories are made equally.
A candy bar piece and an avocado slice may have the same number of calories, but the body reacts to each item extremely differently, according to Dr. Albers.
Doctor Jampolis concurs. “The most important message is that quality of calories can play a key role in helping you lose weight by reducing appetite and assisting in calorie reduction without the need to continually analyse what you eat and adhere to a particular diet,” she says.
How to Use It to Your Advantage:
Simply put: education. You must be able to recognise the foods that will make you feel satisfied for a longer period of time and the eating practises that will prevent a potential food binge.
The study’s dieticians “truly spent eight weeks teaching individuals about good and entire low carb or low fat diets — not packaged food that shouted low fat or low carb on the label,” said Dr. Jampolis.
The participants in the study also spent “a considerable amount of effort” changing their behaviour, such as not eating in the car or in front of the TV and instead sitting down to dinner and whenever feasible shopping at farmer’s markets.
According to Dr. Jampolis, many participants in the study reported having a much healthier connection with food.
“I think this underscores the vital lifestyle factor to weight management,” he adds.
Weight loss will eventually result from switching to a healthy dietary pattern, one that prioritises nutrient-dense, whole foods that is individualised and free of “food fads.” However, monitoring your calorie intake and portion sizes will always be popular.
Things to think about:
Many times, people will try anything that claims to aid in weight loss. They might desire to feel or look better, or they might be concerned about certain health issues. Fad diet-promoting businesses profit on this reality.
They entice customers by offering quick and simple weight loss. Instead of making the effort to lose weight by making long-term changes to their eating and activity habits, many people would rather attempt the short cure of a fad diet.
Fad diets are also well-liked because they produce temporary results. Most often, this is a result of your lower-than-average calorie intake. You also pay more attention to what you eat when you follow a fad diet.
The majority of the weight you lose, though, most likely comes from lean muscle and water, not body fat. Additionally, it is challenging to adhere to a rigid diet’s requirements.
Fad diets frequently restrict your dietary options or force you to consume the same items again. A fad diet may result in you regaining the weight you initially lost.