The scenes of more and more obese people here in Syracuse are upsetting. Obesity is not just unappealing to the senses, it is also a major cause of illness and disability. Naturally healthy diets to fight obesity are essential to help effectively and safely deal with this serious problem.
ScienceDaily has reported "Three Square Meals a Day Paired With Lean Protein Help People Feel Full During Weight Loss." New research has found that eating fewer, regular-sized meals with higher amounts of lean protein can make one feel more full than eating smaller, more frequent meals. This information should have a positive impact on the effectiveness of dieting to control obesity here in Syracuse where up until this time there has been a common trend of eating smaller, more frequent meals while dieting. Eating frequently has been found to have relatively no beneficial impact on appetite control.
In this study the larger meals led to reductions in appetite, and people felt full. However, in this study these three larger meals were restricted in calories and reflected appropriate portion sizes to be effective in weight loss. The findings of this study have been published in the journal Obesity.
Wayne W. Campbell, a professor of foods and nutrition at Purdue who worked on this study has commented "Our advice for people trying to lose weight is to add a moderate amount of protein at three regular meals a day to help appetite control and the feeling of fullness. Egg and lean pork products are good sources for protein, and if they are incorporated at meals when people do not normally consume protein, such as at breakfast and lunch, they may prove to be a nice strategy to control weight; promote satiety, which is the feeling of being full; and retain lean tissue mass, which is essential for people as they age."
In this study eating frequency was tested because it has been a common belief that eating more frequent, smaller meals a day can lead to weight loss. Older studies have suggested people who are overweight and obese tend to eat fewer meals. Campbell has commented "As a result, the idea was that fewer, larger meals were contributing or encouraging overconsumption and resulting in obesity and that the people who were more successful with weight control were eating smaller, more frequent meals. But our findings turn that on its head. There also seems to be a growing consensus that these other dietary habits may not be accurately reported because obese and overweight people tend to conceal how frequently and how much they eat."
Therefore Syracuse residents may want to consider the findings of this research when dieting. It may help to eat three regular meals a day with lean protein instead of eating smaller more frequent meals.
Photographer: africa
