The most effective diet for Fat- Loss.

HINT: No calorie counting needed.

Adopting a healthy lifestyle and aiming to lose fat is on the radar for most of this quarantine.

As we all know, diet plays one of the most critical roles in sustainable fat loss.

Before we discuss diet, let’s first understand the concept of Energy Density…

In simple terms, energy density is nothing but thinking of your stomach as a weighing scale.

Compare 1 tbsp (only) of oil VS one Apple. Both roughly contain the same number of calories. So by logic, both should fill our stomach and satisfy our hunger equally, right? Wrong, of course.

Much like a weighing scale, your stomach can’t go into details of recognizing how many calories, proteins, or fat you eat every day. What it recognizes is only just the weight of the food you are eating.

The Apple is heavier than a tbsp of oil, thus, the body responds better to satiety with the Apple than the oil.

In such a case, if you are eating food that is heavy (in weight), it is automatically tricked into believing that you are full.

Now let’s manipulate this law of physics.

A slab of cheese is as heavy as a cup of baked chickpeas, but one of them has lesser calories than the other.

So if you can select low-calorie, high fiber (heavy) foods, you will feel satiated and full. Thus, won’t have the cravings to overeat or hunger headaches. But at the same time, stay in a calorie deficit!

Guess what type of diet is filled with high fiber foods: A plant-centric diet of course!

What does science say?

Dr. Barbara Rolls, a veteran nutrition scientist, author, and professor of nutritional sciences, researched the effects of a plant-based diet on weight loss to reduce the energy density of the diet.

In this comparative study, women with obesity were randomly assigned to groups instructed to reduce their fat intake only (RF group) or reduce their fat intake and increase their intake of water-rich foods, mainly fruit and vegetables (RF+FV group). Both groups could eat unlimited calories as long as they chose low-fat options.

The study found astounding results! People who ate MORE fruits and veggies (heavy) actually lost more weight over time.

Hope this gets you thinking!

Roshni Sanghvi.