Why Don’t so-called Diet Foods Work?

You can hardly go to the grocery store, or even read a magazine, without seeing ads for diet foods. These are the low fat, low carb, etc. pre-packaged foods that are supposed to help us stick to our diets. But do these types of foods really help us lose weight? The problem iwith many of these so-called diet foods is that they contain a lot of energy packed in a dense package, and they usually contain little water. As for how these processed foods are made, who knows what other chemicals we are putting into our bodies to replace other foods.

High Water Content Foods

During the 80’s we saw a popular diet, Fit for Life. this was based on the idea of natural hygeine. The authors claimed that it would help not to combine proteins and starches in one meal. Many people lost weight on this diet, but is this why? The other part of the diet advised dieters to eat 70% of high water content foods. I believe that this advice, more than the food combining thing, was the ticket.

Nowadays, we see diets based upon the idea of volumetrics. What is this? Well, to me it looks like the 1980s advice of making sure that 70% of a diet is high water content food.

Hot Chocolate is Diet Food!

Here’s one example I just love. The authors advice dieters to calm a chocolate craving by drinking chocolate milk made with skim milk instead of eating a candy bar. This is great advice. The 8 ounce glass of chocolate gives us more to eat, is more filling, has other nutrients, and also contains less calories than the candy bar! I think a better choice would be drink a mug of hot chocolate! Because it is hot, it takes longer to drink, and it has the benefits of drinking low fat milk too!

So here’s one diet food that works - hot chocolate!

Raisins vs. Grapes

They also use the example of grapes vs. raisins. These are basically the same thing, right? The raisins are just dried grapes, but because the water has been removed, you get to eat about 3 times the volume of grapes to equal the same calories.  You can endulge in lots of bowls of grapes, apples, oranges, etc. without runing your diet. Enjoy nature’s candy. Fruit is a great diet fruit, but be wary of dried fruit.

Stick Veggies in your Pasta!

You really don’t need a pre-packaged diet meal either. If you make a pasta dish, use a heavy hand with chopped up zuchinni, celery, onions, etc. You can double the volume of the dish that you could eat without adding calories. You will feel more satisfied, take in some essential vitamins and minerals, and also be less likely to overeat later.

We Natural Eat Food By Weight and Volume!

Studies have proven that people tend to eat about the same weight of food every day! It is just the way we are programmed to eat. If tha weight of food has a high water content, we will take in less calories and stay hydraed. If that weight of food has a low water content, we risk overeating and weight gain.

So what are good diet foods tha work?

You can eat almost anything you want if you eat it the right way!  

Your breakfast of ceral and milk should include some fresh fruit. Eat it on the side or slice it up and put it in your bowl. Use fresh fruit, and not dried fruit. You may feel as if you are forcing yourself to eat too much at a meal, but you will do yoruself a favor later because you are unlikely to feel hungry or suffer food cravings.

For lunch, make sure you include plenty of lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles on your burger. Eat a salad on the side too. Sure, you’ve eaten a burger, but you’ve also taken in alot of veggies , are likely to feel full, and will be less tempted to snack in an hour.

Homemade, not the store bought calorie traps, smoothies are great snacks. Simple crush ice, fruit, and some skim milk or low fat yogurt in a blender. In this case, the crushed ice makes this drink one you have to savor slowly. It should satisfy a sweet craving too.

How Do You Sneak More High Water Content Food Into Your Diet?

Tags: diet food, fit for life, high water content food, low fat food, natural hygeine, volumetetrics