The first thing most people do when trying to lose weight is to reduce their calorie intake. After all, you have to take in fewer calories than you use to lose weight, right? Well, what about the quality of what you’re eating? Most people will agree that all calories aren’t created equal. Your body handles a sugary pastry quite different than it does a piece of salmon, even if you consume an equal quantity of each from a calorie standpoint. A new study from Tufts University supports this idea and shows the best approach is to upgrade the QUALITY of your diet when you’re trying to lose weight.
Food Quality Matters
This recent study analyzed data on more than 120,000 men and women over a 16 year period, looking for correlations between weight gain and dietary habits. Based on the results, food quality counts when you’re trying to shed body weight. Observations that came out of this study: eating processed meat and red meat was linked with weight gain, while dining on fish, yogurt, skinless chicken breasts, and nuts was associated with weight loss. In fact, weight loss was greater in those who ate more of these foods, calling into question whether counting calories is the key to weight loss.
What was also evident from this study is the importance of choosing healthy carbohydrates. The results support the idea that low-glycemic, fiber-rich carbohydrates aid in weight loss, while high-glycemic, starchy foods that are low in fiber have a negative impact. Participants who ate “weight gain” foods like processed meats gained even more weight when they combined them with high-glycemic carbs like foods made with white flour.
In this study, eating red meat with non-starchy vegetables lessened the degree of weight gain. In addition, combining low-glycemic carbs with fish, nuts and other “weight loss” foods had a synergistic effect on weight loss. In other words, salmon and a side of broccoli is an ideal combination when you’re trying to slim down.
Don’t Fear Fat
This study also showed that foods higher in fat, like eggs and cheese, don’t interfere with weight loss, as long as you avoid eating them with high-glycemic carbs. Stick with fiber-rich, low glycemic options. Eating these foods with low-glycemic carbs like vegetables was linked with weight loss.
The take-home message from this study? The quality of what you eat counts, especially in terms of the type of carbs you consume. It also shows you needn’t fear foods high in fat as long as you’re eating them with fiber-rich, unprocessed carbs. This adds to a growing body of evidence that it’s not fat that’s making people fat, but processed carbs and sugar. Plus, you can eat more without gaining weight if you’re eating a diet that includes lean sources of protein and low-glycemic carbohydrates.
What You Eat Affects Your Hormones
Why is dietary quality so important? The composition of what you eat impacts hormones like insulin involved in fat storage. The high-glycemic foods you munch on leads to a rapid rise in glucose that, in turn, triggers an insulin spike. The sharp rise in insulin turns on a hormone called lipoprotein lipase associated with fat cells that makes it easy for your body to store fat. It also turns off another hormone called hormones sensitive lipase that oxidizes fat. That’s a bad combination! Plus, the rapid increase in glucose is followed by a faster fall in blood sugar that activates hunger and cravings. The key to taming hunger and keeping your body in fat-burning mode is to subdue your blood sugar and insulin response by eating fiber-rich foods that cause a “gentler” rise in blood glucose.
Unfortunately, those insulin spikes eventually lead to insulin resistance in some people. As a result, cells no longer respond as well to insulin and the pancreas has to keep pumping out more. This high insulin state changes the way fat is stored and partitioned. If you ask these folks about how much they eat, they’ll tell you they can’t lose weight even when they drastically reduce their calorie intake. To break out of this vicious cycle, they have to correct the QUALITY of their diet, which will, in turn, change their hormonal response to food.
As mentioned, diet quality also influences how much you eat at your next meal. A study showed people who started the day with a breakfast of eggs, ate less later in the day than those who chowed down on a bagel, even when the calorie content was the same. Plus, the egg eaters lost 65% more weight. Protein has a strong satiety effect that helps curb cravings.
Other Problems with Calorie Counting
The calorie counting model has other negative repercussions. Have you ever cut your calories back to 1000 calories a day and had your weight loss stall after a few weeks as your metabolism slowed? Aggressive calorie cutting doesn’t work long term. Your body doesn’t respond favorably to low energy stores. When faced with such a situation, it begins to cannibalize muscle to use the amino acids to make glucose. As you lose lean body mass, your metabolism further slows. It’s a cycle you don’t want to get into. By focusing on the quality of what you’re eating, you can avoid the pitfalls of overly aggressive calorie restriction.
When you’re targeting calories, your focus shifts towards obsessively monitoring the calorie content of what you eat, not on the nutritional benefits of what you’re taking in. Isn’t a healthier body what you’re ultimately trying to achieve? You can cut calories and eat a diet that’s a nutritional wasteland, full of added chemicals, sugar, and unhealthy fats. In the long run, you’re doing your body a disfavor. Calorie counting makes food “the enemy” that you need to eat less of. Such an approach to losing weight is harmful and breeds eating disorders.
The Bottom Line
No doubt calories have some relevance, but they aren’t the full story. When you change the quality of your diet, you create a hormonal environment that helps control hunger and cravings so you no longer need to eat as much. Processed carbs and sugary foods simply aren’t as satisfying as whole foods. Yes, you can overeat healthy food and stall weight loss, but it’s harder to do. Plus, think of all the other health benefits you’re getting when you choose whole foods. When you’re trying to lose weight, think beyond calories.
References:
Am J Clin Nutr April 2015 ajcn100867
Science Daily. “Choice of protein- and carbohydrate-rich foods may have big effects on long-term weight gain” April 9, 2015.
Int J Obes (Lond). 2008 Oct; 32(10): 1545-1551.
Related Articles By Cathe:
5 Reasons to Ditch Restrictive Dieting
What to Do When Eating Cleanly Makes You Feel Hungry
Do Low-Fat Diets Impede Weight Loss?
Does Calorie Counting Work for Weight Loss?
Are There Downsides to Intermittent Fasting?