Water-rich foods allow people to eath more while losing weight

• Two new Penn State studies show that people who pursue a healthy, low-fat, low-energy-density diet that includes more water-rich foods, such as fruits and vegetables, consume more food but weigh less than people who eat a more energy-dense diet.
• Barbara Rolls, who holds the Guthrie Chair of Nutrition in Penn State's College of Health and Human Development, directed the studies.
• She says, "In one of the studies, we looked at the eating patterns of 7,500 men and women who constituted a representative sample of American adults.
• In the other study, 101 obese women were counseled to increase their intake of water-rich foods and to select reduced-fat foods rather than full-fat ones.
• In both cases eating more low-energy-dense, water-rich foods, such as fruits and vegetables, was associated with lower body weights.
• "Decreasing the energy density of your diet by choosing more low-energy-dense foods, such as fruits and vegetables, can be a successful strategy to lose weight without counting calories or fat grams," she adds.
• Ledikwe found that despite the fact that the people in the low energy density group ate a greater weight of food than those in the high energy density group, they consumed fewer calories and weighed less.
• The women in both groups received individual counseling for six months and a follow-up period of six additional months of individual and group counseling.
• The study was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease.
• The study was supported by grants from the National institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and an appointment to the Research Participation Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.