Cut portions and calories to reduce weight

The traditional method of controlling portions and being calorie conscious seems to be more advantageous over the trendy diets that promise weight loss.   Researchers from the Pennsylvania State University in University Park conducted an experiment on 24 young women and found that the study participants ate fewer calories when their meal portions were reduced or when they traded in some calorie-dense dishes for less rich substitutes, without feeling deprived. Both diet tactics - portion control and lower-calorie options were effective and additive, meaning women took in fewest calories when they practiced both. In fact, the two together reduced 812 calories, on an average, from the women's daily intake. What's exciting about the results is that the calorie drop came without making huge changes to the diet and without leaving women feeling hungry. The diners still enjoyed brownies, potato chips and cheese and crackers, albeit lower-fat versions.   It's thought that cheap, super-sized portions of calorie-dense foods are fuelling the rise of obesity in the U.S. and other nations. Calorie density refers to a food's number of calories in relation to the weight. A kg of broccoli has far fewer calories than a pound of chocolate. Previous research has shown that portion size can play a vital role in a person's calorie intake; if there's more food on the plate, more food goes into the stomach, even if the person is satisfied with less. In fact, cutting calorie density without cutting portions was more effective in this study than simple portion control.   The 24 women, aged 19 to 35 years, followed four menu plans for two days. In the first plan, they ate standard portions of common foods like muffins, pizza, pasta and salad. In the second plan they were given lower-calorie versions of these same meals, like reduced-fat snack food, or dinners containing a larger proportion of vegetables. A third eating plan gave the women full-calorie fare but smaller servings, while the fourth included both portion control and lower-calorie foods.   It was found that all three of the diet-conscious tactics reduced the number of calories consumed by women everyday, but the combination of portion control and calorie-watching was most effective, lowering their calorie intake by 812 calories a day. However, controlling calorie density was more effective than eating smaller servings of richer foods. The former cut an average of 575 calories from the women's daily intake, while portion control trimmed their daily calories by 231.   Researchers concluded that lowering the calorie density of meals, and less so the size, may be a wiser move. People can trim the calorie density of their meals by adding more vegetables to the plate, or by having a light soup or large salad as a starter.