The Diet Diary

This is encouraging. Volumetrics– the plan I latched on to following my own diet– is the most effective diet plan. Or so says Consumer Reports.

The key: Pick low energy density foods. One way to do this: Add lots of fiber and water rich veggies to your diet. Watch portions of the higher energy density foods closely.

You’ll see my meat loaf recipe included veggies to bulk it up? And I eat pasta with tomato sauce, not cream sauces? And I advocate soups, veggies and other foods that fill you up.

Oh, just so you know. Professor Barbara Rolls came up with this diet based on studies of how people eat, and how long they stay satisfied after a meal. And no, just drinking water with meals doesn’t help. The water needs to be bound to the food molecules!

Why does the water need to be bound to the food? I don’t know, but I suspect the chemical binding of food particles and water slows digestion. (This is my wild guess.) But regardless of the reason, experiments show eating vegetable in soup, which contains water rich vegetables and very watery rice will keep you full longer than washign down a carrot and rice with a glass of water.