So-called Diet Foods Can Actually Make You Gain Weight
We all have a tendency to pick foods labelled 'fat-free', 'low fat' or 'diet' hoping to lose weight and fulfil our cravings at the same time. But in real, the so-called 'diet' products containing low or no fat may have higher amount of sugar and consuming them regularly could make you fat. The sugar-laden 'diet' foods could also lead to liver damage and brain inflammation, as per a new study published in the journal Physiology & Behavior.
If you are trying to lose weight or achieve a healthy weight, please understand that there are no short cuts! It is all about taking in fewer calories and burning more. Intentional weight loss is the process of consciously making and executing a plan to decrease total body weight. This usually entails the reduction of total body fat. Ideally, dieting should be done by eating a nutritionally balanced low-calorie diet and increasing physical activity.
Although there are many programmes to help lose weight, the only proven long-term and safe method is to burn more calories than are ingested. This is achieved either by reducing the caloric intake (eat less food or healthier food) or by increasing the energy expenditure (exercise more). While picking foods make smart choices. Pick fresh, seasonal and local ingredients. Avoid packaged foods to the maximum. Often, behaviour modification techniques like eating smaller portions are also used to help control eating habits. Once the weight is lost, these habits can be modified slightly for weight maintenance.
Researchers from the University of Georgia, US, monitored body weight, caloric intake, body composition and fecal samples in three groups of rats over a four-week period. One group consumed a diet high in fat and sugar, another group was fed a low-fat, high-sugar diet and a third group was given a balanced or "normal" diet.
"Most so-called diet products containing low or no fat have an increased amount of sugar and are camouflaged under fancy names, giving the impression that they are healthy, but the reality is that those foods may damage the liver and lead to obesity as well, according to Krzysztof Czaja, Associate Professor and lead researcher.
They found that rats fed a diet high in sugar but low in fat - meant to imitate many popular diet foods - increased body fat mass when compared to rats fed a balanced rodent diet. The high-sugar diet induced a host of other problems, including liver damage and brain inflammation. There was also significant increases in body weight and body fat when compared to the balanced diet group.
"Our research shows that in rats fed a low-fat, high-sugar diet, the efficiency of generating body fat is more than twice as high - in other words, rats consuming low-fat high-sugar diets need less than half the number of calories to generate the same amount of body fat," Czaja added.
Inputs from ANI
If you are trying to lose weight or achieve a healthy weight, please understand that there are no short cuts! It is all about taking in fewer calories and burning more. Intentional weight loss is the process of consciously making and executing a plan to decrease total body weight. This usually entails the reduction of total body fat. Ideally, dieting should be done by eating a nutritionally balanced low-calorie diet and increasing physical activity.
Although there are many programmes to help lose weight, the only proven long-term and safe method is to burn more calories than are ingested. This is achieved either by reducing the caloric intake (eat less food or healthier food) or by increasing the energy expenditure (exercise more). While picking foods make smart choices. Pick fresh, seasonal and local ingredients. Avoid packaged foods to the maximum. Often, behaviour modification techniques like eating smaller portions are also used to help control eating habits. Once the weight is lost, these habits can be modified slightly for weight maintenance.
Researchers from the University of Georgia, US, monitored body weight, caloric intake, body composition and fecal samples in three groups of rats over a four-week period. One group consumed a diet high in fat and sugar, another group was fed a low-fat, high-sugar diet and a third group was given a balanced or "normal" diet.
"Most so-called diet products containing low or no fat have an increased amount of sugar and are camouflaged under fancy names, giving the impression that they are healthy, but the reality is that those foods may damage the liver and lead to obesity as well, according to Krzysztof Czaja, Associate Professor and lead researcher.
They found that rats fed a diet high in sugar but low in fat - meant to imitate many popular diet foods - increased body fat mass when compared to rats fed a balanced rodent diet. The high-sugar diet induced a host of other problems, including liver damage and brain inflammation. There was also significant increases in body weight and body fat when compared to the balanced diet group.
"Our research shows that in rats fed a low-fat, high-sugar diet, the efficiency of generating body fat is more than twice as high - in other words, rats consuming low-fat high-sugar diets need less than half the number of calories to generate the same amount of body fat," Czaja added.
Inputs from ANI
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