So the newest finding on what specific foods is causing weight gain should be of utmost important to everyone. The new research conducted by five nutrition and public health experts at Harvard University has looked at 120,877 well-educated men and women who were healthy and not obese is an eye-opening one. The participants were followed for 12-20 years and every two years they completed very detailed questionnaires about their eating and other habits and current weight. These results were recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The analysis examined how an array of factors influenced weight gain or loss during each four-year period of the study. The average participant gained 3.35 pounds every four years, for a total of 16.8 pounds in 20 years.
Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist at Harvard says that, "This study shows that conventional wisdom- to eat everything in moderation, eat fewer calories and avoid fatty foods- isn't the best approach. Not only do you have to count calories but you need to see where those calories are coming from. Unlike what the food industry wants us to believe, there ARE good foods and bad foods. The notion that it is OK to eat everything in moderation is just an excuse to eat whatever you want.
People don't become overweight overnight. Rather the pounds creep up slowly, until one day nothing in the closet fits the way it used to. In the study, one average, the participants gained a pound a year and the foods that contributed to this weight gain were not surprising. French fries led the list; increased consumption of this food alone contributed to 3.5 pounds gained in every four-year period. The other contributors were chips (1.7 pounds), sugar sweetened drinks (1 pound), other forms of potatoes (0.6 pound), refined grains (0.32 pound), 100% fruit juice (0.31 pound), and butter (0.3 pound).
Contrary to what most people believe, an increased intake of dairy products, whether low-fat milk or full-fat milk and cheese had a neutral effect on weight.
As you may have guessed, a person who is eating french fries on a regular basis is more likely to also be drinking sugary sodas and other fatty foods, so the effects may be more than just the sum of each contributing factor.
As I always say... stay away from the middle isles of the grocery store, unless of course you are picking up steel cut oats!! Everything clean is on the periphery, friends. Now go outside and do something, or wait... it's over 100 degrees... do a few pushups.
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