health: eat more, weigh less

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Forget fad diets - the latest way to eat yourself healthy means carbs, fat and zero calorie-counting, too good to be true? Jessica Montague finds out.

Fact:
For every diet we start, 90 per cent of us will fail. But what if we told you there was a new way to eat? A way that would not only stabilise your waistline, but would have you feeling fuller for longer; that allowed you to fill your plate, had no “off-limits” food and had been proven to work?
In her book The Volumetrics Eating Plan, Dr Barbara Rolls, professor of nutritional sciences at America’s Penn State University, says: “If you limit your calories by simply eating less, you’ll feel hungry. You may be able to stick to such a diet for a short time, but to be successful at lifelong weight management you’ll need to make food choices that help you feel full with lower calories.” Her solution? It comes in the form of two little words: energy density.

What is energy density?
Energy density is simply the amount of kilojoules in a particular weight of food. Everything we eat has a measurement of energy density and falls into one of four categories – very low, low, medium or high. All food and beverages high in sugar or fat – think cheeses, biscuits and chocolate – rate in the high bracket, while fruit, vegetables and water-rich meals like soups and casseroles feature in the very low category.
Herein lies Dr Rolls’ solution: if you add water-dense ingredients to a meal, you dilute the concentration of energy compared to the overall volume. Studies show you are likely to eat the same-sized portion of food as usual, which means you will be satisfied after each meal, but by eating fewer kilojoules. In proving a link between eating low energy-density food and losing weight, Dr Rolls led a clinical trial in which she put 71 obese women on two different diets. The first diet was simply reduced in fat, while the second was equally reduced in fat, but higher in low energy-density meals. After six months, the women who added water-rich food to their diet lost on average 8.9 kilograms each, compared to the 6.7kg lost by women just reducing their fat intake. Furthermore, the second group of women ate 25 per cent more and felt less hungry than their low-fat partners.

Putting theory into practice
“To stay lean you don’t have to cut out whole categories of foods or eat tiny portions,” says Dr Rolls. You just need to make your meals more energy efficient.
As a general rule, bulk up every dish with water-rich vegetables. For example add broccoli, celery, tomatoes and carrots to chilli con carne, stews and spaghetti bolognaise.
• Switch to low-fat milk varieties and buy leaner cuts of meat.
• Boost sandwiches with salad before adding other fillings.
• Opt for water-dense dinners like soups and casseroles.
• Eat a small bowl of broth-based soup or a green salad at the start of your meal. This takes the edge off your hunger and even with an extra course you are likely to eat fewer total kilojoules.
• With desserts you can still indulge your sweet tooth. Simply cut the portion size and top with fresh fruit.

A weighty issue
We often make food choices that we believe will help us lose weight, when
in reality we can be way off the mark, says dietitian and exercise physiologist Joanne Turner (joanneturner.com.au). Here, she compares the meals that we think are healthy to the more energy-friendly alternatives.

Breakfast
GOOD choice: Grilled bacon and a boiled egg on a piece of light-rye seeded toast with a smear of margarine and a glass of juice.
Better choice: One-egg omelette made with mushrooms, tomatoes and spinach, a small mixed-fruit platter and a glass of sparkling water.

Lunch
GOOD choice: Roast chicken, roast vegetables and a can of diet soft drink.
Better choice: Wholemeal grain bread with a tin of tuna in spring water and lots of mixed salad greens, plus a tub of diet yoghurt and water.

Dinner
GOOD choice: Grilled tandoori chicken and basmati rice.
Better choice: Two cups of stir-fried vegetables, 150g of lean beef
in a soy-based sauce and a cup of low-GI noodles.

Dessert
GOOD choice: Low-fat blueberry muffin.
Better choice: A scoop of low-fat chocolate ice-cream with fresh berries.

Snack
GOOD choice: Half a cup of yoghurt-coated sultanas.
Better choice: One cup of fresh grapes and six raw almonds.

Portion distortion
So exactly how much food from each energy-density category should we be having each day? We asked Joanne Turner to talk us through it. While Turner is all for women basing their food choices on lower energy options, she warns it still has to be a balanced diet. “The quality of the food is very important. You can’t suddenly live on diet jelly, for instance,” she says. “Your brain and body still need to be getting all the vital nutrients from your diet.” As a daily
guide, Turner recommends you eat 500 grams of food each from the very low, low, and medium categories, plus 50g of food that rates high in energy density. So in total you should be eating approximately 1.55kg of food per day, and of that, the last 50g of high energy-
density food should be enough indulgence to sustain the eating pattern.