Liquid Lunch Helps to Reduce Weight

It gives a whole new, and rather more healthy meaning to the liquid lunch.
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Eating food with a high water content could be the key to losing weight.

Nutritionists believe that dishes such as rice, pasta, soups and stews, appear to keep you feeling fuller for longer. But the liquid must be part of the food.

Drinking a glass of water while you eat will not have the same effect, said the British Nutrition Foundation.

The theory is based on studies which showed that although somebody will eat different foods on different days, the weight of food consumed will hardly vary.

This means that if we eat foods that are just as bulky but contain fewer calories, we should feel just as full.

Water-rich foods tend to be low in calories or have a low energy density, a BNF conference heard.

A spokesman said: ‘Studies have shown that people tend to consume the same weight of food each day but not necessarily the same amount of energy or calories.

‘So it is possible to trick ourselves into consuming less energy, without feeling hungrier, by eating a lower energy density diet which still makes up the same weight of foods overall throughout the day.’

To work out the energy density of a food, divide the number of calories by its weight.

So a 40g bag of crisps with 200 calories has an energy density of five – putting it towards the high end of the scale.

At the other end of the scale are most fruits and vegetables, as well as vegetable soups, low-fat yoghurt, baked beans, baked potatoes and cornflakes.

Many of these are high in water and all have an energy density of 1.5 or less, making them good to fill up on.

Foods with a medium rating include strawberries and cream, lasagne, steak, pizza and chips.

Joining crisps at the high end of the scale, with ratings of four or more, are cheese, chocolate, mayonnaise and butter.

Chocolate-lovers, however, can take some heart. The lightness of chocolate mousse means it has a lower rating – and so is more filling – than squares of chocolate.

Source:Mail Online  :July 01.’09