Trimming Down the Healthy Way

Trimming Down the Healthy Way - How Foods Fight Cancer

Studies show that every 14 grams of fiber in our daily diet reduces our
calorie intake by about 10 percent.

So, how do we slim down? The first key is to focus not on how much you
eat, but on what you eat. It is natural for people seeking to lose weight to
skip meals and eat tiny portions. But doing so over even a few weeks tends
to slow down your body’s calorie-burning speed, making it harder and
harder to lose weight. And cutting back on portions can make hunger get
out of control, leading to binges and rebound weight gain.

Instead, focus on healthful foods that are naturally modest in calories.
The best advice is to build your menu from the New Four Food Groups
introduced in chapter 1. Vegetables, fruits, beans, and whole grains are
nearly always lower in calories than typical meats, dairy products, eggs, and
fried foods.

This is partly because they are usually very low in fat. Ounce for
ounce, fat has more than twice the calories of carbohydrate or protein. In
addition, plant-based foods are so high in fiber, they tend to fill you up
before you’ve taken in too many calories. Studies show that every 14 grams
of fiber in our daily diet reduces our calorie intake by about 10 percent.3

By building your diet from the New Four Food Groups you’ll avoid
animal products and keep vegetable oils to an absolute minimum. In the
process, you’ll eliminate all animal fat and fiber-depleted foods and dramatically
cut your fat intake.

Several studies by the research team at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine have shown that simply using the New Four Food Groups while avoiding animal products and keeping oils to a
minimum leads to a weight loss of roughly one pound per week—week after week after week—
even if you don’t exercise. For example, in a study of fifty-nine postmenopausal women, the
diet change caused participants to lose an average of thirteen pounds in
fourteen weeks.4

The same effect was seen in young women.5 And in a study
of individuals with type 2 diabetes, participants lost an average of thirteen
pounds in just twenty-two weeks.6 A recent review of eighty-seven studies
on vegetarian or vegan diets and weight found that vegetarians were more
likely to be at a healthy weight and that vegetarian diets brought greater
weight loss than nonvegetarian diets.7

Many other research studies have reached similar conclusions. You can
focus on the type of food you eat—not the amount—and lose weight naturally
and safely.

Of course, a slimmer body is not the only benefit of this type of nutritious
menu. Low-fat vegetarian and vegan diets have been used to reverse
heart disease, bring diabetes under control, lower blood pressure, reduce menstrual
and premenstrual symptoms, and achieve many other health goals.4-9