To slim down, eat more!

Experts say secret of weight loss is BIGGER portions of pasta and potatoes

GOOD news for dieters battling hunger and on the verge of giving up. It really is possible to eat more and lose weight – as long as you pick the right foods.

A study has found a diet of ‘low energy-dense’ foods – which include rice, pasta, potatoes, lean meat, fish, fruit and low-fat cheese and yoghurt – allows people to both eat larger portions and shed the pounds.

Women who followed this diet in the evening ate almost 50 per cent more than those on a restrictive diet of higher energydense foods that cut daily calorie intake by 600. However, they also lost almost twice the amount of weight over 14 weeks. The study showed those on the low energy-dense diet lost 12.8lb – or 6.2 per cent of body weight. This is almost double the 7.3lb – 3.8 per cent of body weight – lost by those on the restrictive diet.

Researchers at the University of Leeds found the first group felt less hungry and had fewer cravings when they ate lower energy- dense foods. This is because the foods contain fewer calories per gram, so you can eat far more of them.

The study, which appears in the Journal of Nutrition, asked 96 women to eat low energy-dense meals for two days at lunchtime and high energy-dense ones for the next two. They followed either diet at home in the evening. It found that women on the low energy- dense diet ate almost 45 per cent more – despite losing much more weight overall.

Lead author Dr Nicola Buckland said: ‘A lot of people give up on diets because they feel hungry between meals. Our research shows that eating low energy- density foods can help overcome that problem.’

Dr Jacquie Lavin of Slimming World, which recommends the low energy-dense diet, said: ‘We might think we need to be overly strict with ourselves when we’re losing weight … but this type of restrictive approach ultimately leaves us feeling more hungry and deprived.’