It’s not just the water that you drink

For many years now, debate has been raging within the scientific community regarding whether dieters should follow a low-carbohydrate or a low-fat regime. Neither approach has proven particularly efficient in weight reduction when used in isolation.  The problem stems from the fact that foods low in fat or carbs can still be high in calories.  Barbara Rolls is a professor and Guthrie chair in nutrition at Pennsylvania State University with some very innovative ideas.  She advocates a diet that is high in water to maximize weight-loss while minimizing hunger

For nearly three decades, Rolls has researched food choices, portion sizes and the caloric or energy density of foods.Most recently, she has been studying the impact of energy or calorie density (the number of calories in a given weight of food) on satiety and weight control. Her results have been surprising. It seems that humans eat approximately the same volume of food every day.  Her theory of dieting is, therefore, called the Volumetrics Eating Plan.

Central to this theory of weight management is her research that indicates that the absence of satiety is one reason most "diets" don't work very well or for very long. Her research also indicates that negative messaging with regard to diet does not seem to encourage weight-loss. She states that, “People need to eat more low-energy-dense food, such as fruits and vegetables, so they get a satisfying amount of food and enough calories.” It seems most beneficial in weight management to encourage individuals to eat sufficient amounts of the right foods rather than to tell dieters to eat less.

The key to losing weight, Rolls contends, is to choose foods with a low “energy density”. To determine energy density of a food, divide the number of calories in a serving by its weight in grams. The lower this number, the more of that food can be consumed. Primarily this means that for optimum weight management, individuals should be choosing foods that have a high water content. For instance, one small box of raisins contains about 130 calories, whereas one cup of grapes contains less than 110 calories. Eating the grapes will make you feel more full and still provides fewer calories.

People trying to loss weight should, therefore, eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, soups and low-fat dairy products, which are high in water content and low in energy density (less than 1). Lean meats, which tend to have an energy density of between 1 and 2 are also good choices. Foods high in fat and simple carbohydrates will have a density of greater than 2 and should be eaten in moderation.

So it seems, that water is the key ingredient to healthy weight loss. Not only should we be increasing the amount of water that we drink, we also need to eat more foods with a higher water content.