Good news for dieters battling hunger and on the verge of giving up.
It really is possible to eat more and lose weight - as long as you pick the right foods.
A study has found a diet of “low-energy dense” foods, which include rice, pasta, potatoes, lean meat, fish, fruit and low-fat cheese and yoghurt that allows people to eat larger portions and shed the kilos.
Women who followed this diet ate almost 50% more than those on a restrictive diet of higher-energy dense foods - and lost almost twice the amount of weight over 14 weeks. The study showed those on the low-energy dense diet lost 5.8kg of body weight. This is almost double the 3.3kg of body weight lost by those on the restrictive diet.
Researchers at the University of Leeds found the first group felt less hungry and had fewer cravings when they ate lower energy-dense foods. This is because the foods contain fewer calories per gram, so you can eat far more of them.
Lead author of the study which appeared in the Journal of Nutrition, Dr Nicola Buckland, said: “A lot of people give up on diets because they feel hungry between meals eating low energy-density foods can help overcome that problem.” - Daily Mail