Will Eating Fruits and Vegetables Help You Lose Weight
If you don't reduce your calorie intake, you won't slim down, researcher warns
Eating lots of fruits and vegetables is often recommended as a way to lose weight, but doing so may not help you shed excess pounds, according to researchers.
They reviewed data from more than seven studies that examined how increased fruit and vegetable consumption affected weight loss.
"Across the board, all studies we reviewed showed a near-zero effect on weight loss," Kathryn Kaiser, an instructor in the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said in a university news release.
"So I don't think eating more [fruits and vegetables] alone is necessarily an effective approach for weight loss because just adding them on top of whatever foods a person may be eating is not likely to cause weight change," she added.
"Overly simplified messages don't seem to be very effective," she added.
However, Kaiser and her colleagues also found that eating more fruit does not increase the risk of weight gain.
"It appears that an increase in servings does not increase weight, which is a good thing for getting more vitamins and fiber in one's diet," she said. The study, which involved 1,200 people in all, was published June 25 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Fruits and vegetables provide many health benefits, but people shouldn't expect these foods to help them slim down, Kaiser said.
"In the overall context of a healthy diet, energy reduction is the way to help lose weight, so to reduce weight you have to reduce caloric intake," she said.
"People make the assumption that higher-fiber foods like fruits and vegetables will displace the less healthy foods, and that's a mechanism to lose weight; but our findings from the best available evidence show that effect doesn't seem to be present among people simply instructed to increase fruit and vegetable intake," Kaiser concluded.
Yes, the author has a point, if you continue to eat the same foods and then add fruits and vegetables, you're adding calories and you won't lose weight. But you're suppose to substitute fruits and vegetables for the unhealthy foods you were eating and therefore eating fewer calories and you will lose weight. The big difference is that eating foods with nutrition will keep you healthy. So, aren't calories just calories? What's the difference? I'll explain, I try and eat nutritious food at every meal and I eat about 1800 calories a day.
My friend Eats about 1800 calories a day, he's about the same age and the same size and his diet is basically fast food. He never has time for a proper meal except maybe on the weekend. He's a workaholic who never stops. So he does burn his calories because he's always busy, but he does spend most of his day on a computer. He probably is sitting about 10 hours a day, add his drive time and it's about 12 hours a day and I'm being kind. He might do some biking on the weekend, but that's the extent of his exercise.
He's not really heavy but he does carry around a pot belly. Not that he's fat but just a little heavy for his frame. I don't talk about this with him. We're friends and I like the guy. As you probably realized, he doesn't know I write this blog. I think if he wanted to get healthy, he'd talk to me about it. He knows I'm a health nut, but I don't push it on others.
So, what I'm getting at, is that "you are what you eat". And that's the real truth. I can't say it any different. Most people have no idea how much harm they're doing to themselves by eating or drinking empty calories or eating processed foods. My friend had a "double by-pass" last month. He's working again but when I talk to him he's doesn't seem as sharp as he use to be. I don't talk to him about it. I'm hoping in time he'll return to normal.
When you're young your body has a stored up supply of nutrients that your born with, but somewhere around 30 years of age you start to run low. That can happen at an earlier age if you have a poor diet. So as an adult you need to be eating to replace that nutrition, those stored up nutrients. Most people think they look older because of their age, when the truth is your diet has a lot to do with the condition of your body. I'll be 70 this summer but I look 10 years younger. My wife is the same age and looks younger than me. She gets one of those left-handed compliments every time she goes in for her check-up. They tell her "Boy, you look good for your age". She comes home and tells me, "looks good for my age, what's that suppose to mean". Neither of us take prescription drugs, or smoke.
Our last business was a retail shop and we walked all day. Walking as much as possible is good for your health. I think that good circulation is the key to good health. Walk promotes that. Any exercise will help your circulation but lower body exercise like walking is the best. Your thighs are the blood bank for your body, so working the thighs will get the blood pumping.
You don't have to limit your food, I don't but I eat fresh, no fast food or processed foods and no added sugar or salt. No bakery goods like bread or rolls with processed flour. Fruits and vegetables will help you lose weight and keep you healthy, but you want to stop eating things that have no value. You might think it's expensive to eat fresh, but if your not eating the fast food or other stuff you were eating It won't cost you any extra. Stop buying the foods you like and start buying the fresh foods your body needs.
Eating lots of fruits and vegetables is often recommended as a way to lose weight, but doing so may not help you shed excess pounds, according to researchers.
They reviewed data from more than seven studies that examined how increased fruit and vegetable consumption affected weight loss.
"Across the board, all studies we reviewed showed a near-zero effect on weight loss," Kathryn Kaiser, an instructor in the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said in a university news release.
"So I don't think eating more [fruits and vegetables] alone is necessarily an effective approach for weight loss because just adding them on top of whatever foods a person may be eating is not likely to cause weight change," she added.
"Overly simplified messages don't seem to be very effective," she added.
However, Kaiser and her colleagues also found that eating more fruit does not increase the risk of weight gain.
"It appears that an increase in servings does not increase weight, which is a good thing for getting more vitamins and fiber in one's diet," she said. The study, which involved 1,200 people in all, was published June 25 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Fruits and vegetables provide many health benefits, but people shouldn't expect these foods to help them slim down, Kaiser said.
"In the overall context of a healthy diet, energy reduction is the way to help lose weight, so to reduce weight you have to reduce caloric intake," she said.
"People make the assumption that higher-fiber foods like fruits and vegetables will displace the less healthy foods, and that's a mechanism to lose weight; but our findings from the best available evidence show that effect doesn't seem to be present among people simply instructed to increase fruit and vegetable intake," Kaiser concluded.
Yes, the author has a point, if you continue to eat the same foods and then add fruits and vegetables, you're adding calories and you won't lose weight. But you're suppose to substitute fruits and vegetables for the unhealthy foods you were eating and therefore eating fewer calories and you will lose weight. The big difference is that eating foods with nutrition will keep you healthy. So, aren't calories just calories? What's the difference? I'll explain, I try and eat nutritious food at every meal and I eat about 1800 calories a day.
My friend Eats about 1800 calories a day, he's about the same age and the same size and his diet is basically fast food. He never has time for a proper meal except maybe on the weekend. He's a workaholic who never stops. So he does burn his calories because he's always busy, but he does spend most of his day on a computer. He probably is sitting about 10 hours a day, add his drive time and it's about 12 hours a day and I'm being kind. He might do some biking on the weekend, but that's the extent of his exercise.
He's not really heavy but he does carry around a pot belly. Not that he's fat but just a little heavy for his frame. I don't talk about this with him. We're friends and I like the guy. As you probably realized, he doesn't know I write this blog. I think if he wanted to get healthy, he'd talk to me about it. He knows I'm a health nut, but I don't push it on others.
So, what I'm getting at, is that "you are what you eat". And that's the real truth. I can't say it any different. Most people have no idea how much harm they're doing to themselves by eating or drinking empty calories or eating processed foods. My friend had a "double by-pass" last month. He's working again but when I talk to him he's doesn't seem as sharp as he use to be. I don't talk to him about it. I'm hoping in time he'll return to normal.
When you're young your body has a stored up supply of nutrients that your born with, but somewhere around 30 years of age you start to run low. That can happen at an earlier age if you have a poor diet. So as an adult you need to be eating to replace that nutrition, those stored up nutrients. Most people think they look older because of their age, when the truth is your diet has a lot to do with the condition of your body. I'll be 70 this summer but I look 10 years younger. My wife is the same age and looks younger than me. She gets one of those left-handed compliments every time she goes in for her check-up. They tell her "Boy, you look good for your age". She comes home and tells me, "looks good for my age, what's that suppose to mean". Neither of us take prescription drugs, or smoke.
Our last business was a retail shop and we walked all day. Walking as much as possible is good for your health. I think that good circulation is the key to good health. Walk promotes that. Any exercise will help your circulation but lower body exercise like walking is the best. Your thighs are the blood bank for your body, so working the thighs will get the blood pumping.
You don't have to limit your food, I don't but I eat fresh, no fast food or processed foods and no added sugar or salt. No bakery goods like bread or rolls with processed flour. Fruits and vegetables will help you lose weight and keep you healthy, but you want to stop eating things that have no value. You might think it's expensive to eat fresh, but if your not eating the fast food or other stuff you were eating It won't cost you any extra. Stop buying the foods you like and start buying the fresh foods your body needs.
Comments