It’s a fact of life: We all gain weight.
Calories may not be the only thing to blame, however, according to new research from Tufts University.
According to the study, which was published online in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who ate a diet high in processed carbohydrates–such as chips, fries, and pizza–gained more weight over the long term compared to those who kept it clean. In addition, eating more protein led to reduced weight gain over a long-term period, suggesting that protein could help people stay slim–even when they’re not on a diet.
For researcher Jessica Smith, Ph.D., these findings continue to prove an important point: Processed foods just aren’t a good idea.
“There is mounting scientific evidence that diets including less low-quality carbohydrates, such as white breads, potatoes, and sweets, and higher in protein-rich foods may be more efficient for weight loss,” says Smith, who is a visiting scholar at the Friedman School and a research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “We wanted to know how that might apply to preventing weight gain in the first place.”
The Research
For the study, Smith drew data from 3 long-term studies, which looked at the diets of 120,000 U.S. health professionals. After determining how much processed foods they ate, including carbohydrates, they found a strong association–eating a diet high in these “bad” carbohydrates led to a bigger increase in weight gain over a 16 year period.
However, what helped people maintain their weight–or even lose weight–all boiled down to their protein intake. Those who ate a diet high in chicken, seafood, and yogurt ended up losing the most weight, for instance.
Not all protein sources are good, however, say researchers. Processed meats, such as hot dogs and red meat, were also associated with weight gain.
“Our study adds to growing new research that counting calories is not the most effective strategy for long-term weight management and prevention,” says Dariush Mozaffarian, M.D., Dr. P.H., dean of the Friedman School and author of the study. “Some foods help prevent weight gain, others make it worse. Most interestingly, the combination of foods seems to make a big difference.”
While the research relied on self-reported food questionnaires, which aren’t as accurate, researchers still believe these data are crucial to understanding the effects of certain foods on a person’s physique. Further studies will attempt to investigate these effects more specifically.
Overall, researchers say this study emphasizes the need to eat more natural foods instead, such as chicken, nuts, and yogurt.
“Our findings suggest we should not only emphasize specific protein-rich foods like fish, nuts, and yogurt to prevent weight gain, but also focus on avoiding refined grains, starches, and sugars in order to maximize the benefits of these healthful protein-rich foods, create new benefits for other foods like eggs and cheese, and reduce the weight gain associated with meats,” says Mozaffarian.
So if you haven’t already, clean up your diet. Even if you don’t count calories, cutting processed foods out of your diet could make a big difference in how much weight you put on over the long term.
Readers: Have you cut any foods out of your diet lately?
Sources:
Choice of Protein- and Carbohydrate-Rich Foods May Have Big Effects on Long-Term Weight Gain – ScienceDaily.com
Changes in Intake of Protein Foods, Carbohydrate Amount and Quality (Study) – Nutrition.org
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