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How
To Turn Super Sizing, Dietary Displacement and
Portion Distortion To Your Advantage!
By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
Ever
since the independent film, Super Size Me was released, research on
the relationship between increasing obesity and increasing portion sizes
has skyrocketed and the results have been virtually unanimous.
There
have been numerous well-designed studies published just in the last
several years which confirmed exactly what we suspected (and much of
what the movie suggested):
-
Portion sizes have increased in restaurants and fast food venues
on a major scale over the last several decades
-
We self-serve ourselves larger portions in the home than we used
to
-
When more food is put in front of us, we almost always eat more
-
Most people underestimate how many calories they are eating
-
All of these factors have contributed to the growing obesity problem
and the related health problems that come along with it
The
obvious solution would seem to be to decrease portion sizes across the
board, and indeed awareness of and control over portion sizes in general
is important.
However,
research has demonstrated that perhaps an even better solution is to
keep the portion sizes generous, but decrease the energy density (calories
per unit of volume) in the foods you put on your plate.
Several
studies revealed that eating more low calorie density foods, especially
green vegetables, salad vegetables and other fibrous carbs, as well
as very lean proteins, maintains a feeling of fullness while reducing
energy intake.
In
other words, large portions of highly nutritious, low calorie foods
displaced the less nutritious, calorie-dense foods! Most people allow
the bad foods to push out the good foods, but you can actually do the
same in reverse!
In
a study published in the Journal of The American Dietetic Association,
researchers fed one group a compulsory first course salad which was
kept low in energy density by using very low calorie dressing with no
high calorie toppings no bacon, cheese or croutons, etc).
After
the salad, the subjects were allowed to eat as much pasta as they wanted.
A second
group was also allowed to eat as much pasta as they wanted but was not
given a compulsory salad to eat beforehand.
The
results: As you might guess, eating a low energy density first course
enhanced satiety (fullness) and reduced the overall amount of calories
that were eaten during the whole meal.
Since
the research has repeatedly discovered that almost everyone will eat
more when served larger portions from a larger plate or container, and
there is obviously a serious issue of "portion distortion"
occurring, another group of scientists and psychologists decided to
test this even further by providing larger plates or containers of low
energy density, high nutrient density foods before the main course and
or in between meals.
When
more of the low energy density foods were made available first, the
subjects ate even more of these healthy foods, which filled them up
even more and decreased the amount of high calorie density foods eaten
in the main course.
Reporting
their findings in the Journal of Nutrition Education And Behavior, the
researchers said that there is a silver lining to all the negative findings
about super sized portions and overeating that we have discoverd inrecent
years:
That
is, although we eat more when more is put in front of us, We can use
this phenomenon in reverse by serving large plates, bowls or containers
of healthy, low energy density foods like fruits, salads and raw vegetables
as snacks and first courses.
"While
a small bowl of raw carrots might make for a good afternoon snack",
said one of the researchers, "a large bowl might even be better."
You
can learn more about calorie density, low energy density foods (thermogenic
foods), and choosing your portion and meal sizes with precision inside
the Burn
the Fat, Feed The Muscle book.
About
the Author:
|
Tom Venuto
is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal
trainer (CPT), certified strength & conditioning specialist
(CSCS), and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, "Burn
the Fat, Feed The Muscle.” Tom has written hundreds of
articles and has been featured in print magazines such as IRONMAN,
Australian IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development,
Exercise for Men and Men’s Exercise, as well as on hundreds
of websites worldwide. For information on Tom's Fat Loss program,
click
here.
Click
Here To Return To
Articles By Tom Venuto
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