Fruits, veggies mean less weight gain--study

Researchers observed that African-American women whose main diet consisted of vegetables and fruits gained less weight than those who consumed more meat and fried foods.

The study, published in the ‘American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,’ is the first to establish a link between healthier diet and weight in African-American women, a population which has a high obesity rate.

Study on dietary habits
The study included 41,351 women who were enrolled for the Black Women’s Health study in 1995. They were aged 21-54 years.

Their dietary habits in 1995 and 2001, and weight were noted by the researchers through e-mailed questionnaires.

The researchers identified two major dietary patterns, “vegetables/fruit” pattern and “meat/fried foods” pattern, and followed up the participants.

The study found that among women who kept an unchanged dietary pattern in 1995 and 2001, the vegetables/fruit pattern gained less weight over 14 years than those who followed meat/fried pattern.

The link was even stronger for women below 35 years of age, who showed the greatest weight gain in the observed period.

More calories is consumed by meat-eaters
Lead study author and researcher Dr. Deborah Boggs stated, "People tend to eat a consistent amount of food rather than a consistent number of calories."

Boggs added, "A diet high in red meat and fried foods can lead to consuming too many calories because these foods contain more calories than the same amount of vegetables and fruit."

The finding suggests that a change in diet from red meat and fried foods to vegetables and fruits may lower obesity rate.