10 Foods That Drive Weight Gain and Loss Identified by Harvard

A recent journal article examines the long-term impacts of small but significant lifestyle changes—especially to diet.
In a new report published in The New England Journal of Medicine, a team of Harvard researchers has revealed the results of a study of 120,877 people showing that small changes in lifestyle behaviors such as physical activity, sleep duration, and TV-watching are strongly correlated with long-term weight gain. But the most important factor was diet—and among the report's most intriguing findings is precisely how much weight gain (or loss) can be attributed to consuming an additional daily serving of a variety of specific foods over a four-year period.

The following 10 foods were found to be especially correlated with long-term changes in weight (the first five foods promoting weight gain, the second five promoting weight loss).
—Daniel Fromson is an associate editor at The Atlantic, where this post originally appeared.

http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_health/diet_reports_information/10_foods_that_drive_weight_gai

1. Potato chips
   
2. Potatoes. Wait, aren't potato chips also potatoes?
   
3. Sugary drinks
   
4. Red meat
   
5. Processed meats
   
6. Veggies
   
7. Whole grains
   
8. Fruit
   
9. Nuts
   
10. Yogurt

It's not even like each slide is so full of nutritional information it's just easier to break it up into pages. No, it's literally "The number X food is....; click to see the next one". With a picture from iStock.

eom

:P

Potato chips usually contain a lot of added oil and salt, as well as flavoring, and are loaded with calories. Potatoes can be cooked so that they don't have any added oil or salt. I usually eat baked potatoes with homemade chili-tomato sauce.

or plain Greek yogurt on mine.

Blaming "sugar-sweetened beverages" without blaming HCFS-sweetened beverages leads me to doubt the accuracy or completeness of the entire study...

High Fructose Corn Syrup is 55% fructose, 45% glucose.

Cane sugar is sucrose, which an enzyme in the intestines splits into 50% fructose, 50% glucose before it is absorbed into the blood stream.

So they are essentially the same.

here they are, according to the article. No surprises here.

TOP 5 FOODS THAT PROMOTE WEIGHT GAIN

potato chips
potatoes
sugar sweetened beverages
unprocessed red meat
processed meat

TOP 5 FOODS THAT PROMOTE WEIGHT LOSS

vegetables
whole grains
fruit
nuts
yogurt

Potato chips - large amounts of bad fats, not surprising.

Potatoes - why? This is odd. Does it have to do with how they're prepared, what's usually eaten with them, or is there something specific to potato starch? Statistically, you could say that potatoes are bad although people are frying them in oil, dousing them with butter, and sour cream, or drenching them in fatty gravy, because potatoes show up as the constant under these other varying, hard-to-measure aspects of diet. If there's something specifically bad about potatoes themselves, it would be good to know. My guess is that, in actual practice, almost nobody eats potatoes without a whole bunch of fat of some kind being involved. Because potatoes themselves are pretty low-calorie - something like 150 calories for a whole potato - and somewhat nutritious if well prepared.


The healthy foods, on the other hand, aren't foods, they're entire categories. Vegetables? Which ones? A half-dozen avocados a day isn't going help much with weight loss. Damn good, though.

apparently potatoes have no real nutritional value according to WIC. I had thought they were a vegetable so therefore ok for you. Though they are starchy. As corn is also a starch. I thought that was good for you too. Apparently it's not as good as I thought either. Sweet potatoes... those have lots of good things. And I think they taste good too. My kids don't really agree as much.

Potatoes kept the Irish alive. The potato famine drove them out of Ireland to the U.S. I don't have a link, but you could survive for 6 months eating only potatoes and drinking water.

You can get Sweet Potatoes though. But not white potatoes or russet potatoes.

I'm so confused now. LOL

but... (according to wiki):

Potatoes are often broadly classified as high on the glycemic index (GI) and so are often excluded from the diets of individuals trying to follow a low-GI diet. In fact, the GI of potatoes can vary considerably depending on type (such as red, russet, white, or Prince Edward), origin (where it was grown), preparation methods (i.e., cooking method, whether it is eaten hot or cold, whether it is mashed or cubed or consumed whole, etc.), and with what it is consumed (i.e., the addition of various high-fat or high-protein toppings).

Potatoes are not considered by the NHS as counting towards the five portions of fruit and vegetables diet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato#Nutrition

Weight loss, my expanding ass.

There are many cuts of red meat, some quite lean AND if you buy grass-fed beef (or buffalo, yum) you are actually getting a very healthy piece of meat.

I just finally got serious about my health. Gave up drinking about a year ago. Gave up cigarettes about six months ago. Lost about thirty pounds so far which has my family flummoxed because kicking cigs is supposed to lead to weight gain not loss. Now, did I have cravings? You bet I did. But I subscribe to the Craig Ferguson theory of kicking bad habits:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgFtFU_VGVA

Kicking booze eliminated a bunch of empty calories which I've tried to replace with healthy choices, e.g. popcorn or nuts for chips. More veggies and fruits. Eat all you want of the 'good' foods. Chicken and fish instead of red meat and less of both, almost treating meat as a garnish. Steaming everything in the rice cooker. Thank you, Roger Ebert:
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/11/the_pot_and_how_to_use_it.html

eat more of it. I unfortunately ate more of it and sadly am overweight. I have been struggling. I quit smoking when I was pregnant with my now 12 year old so it's not like I am using that as my excuse. I have three kids and I went back to work after Emily (my oldest). I stayed steady at 150 or so until I became a SAHM and then I had trouble trying to exercise with a kid climbing all over me and such. And at some point I gave up trying.

Currently I have quit drinking pop except when we are out to eat (which is rare) or at family things. I find even then that I don't really drink it. I thought I'd drink it like a fish when I could but I barely drink it at all. Hmm... I have switched most of my noodles to whole grain. I say most because I buy mac and cheese. I don't eat it myself because that stuff is nasty. Kids like it though. Working on increasing the vegetables. We try to save the fruits and vegetables for the kids first.

I was just told I have high blood pressure so now I really need to get my butt in gear. There is NO WAY i want to be on blood pressure medications!

oh and congrats on quitting drinking, smoking AND losing a bunch of weight. ROCK ON!

there are many that are free. I'm talking actual, not virtual group so much, although you could do that in conjunction--ie. Lose It. But checking in in reality carries more weight. LOL

online is one thing, but you are right, real life is much better. and kudos for the pun.

but I had already changed my diet by making substitutions so I'm grooving on eating all I want of the healthy food -- and tasting it!

I actually gave up on pop several years ago. I had been using Crystal Light until I read about concerns regarding Aspartame side effects. So now I use Truvia is (a stevia-based sugar substitute) when I use it at all -- there's nothing wrong with water. Crystal Light has introduced several Truvia based products. Look for Crystal Light Pure Fitness.



Good luck to you!

the time. SO they end up drinking my water. But thanks for the tip. Not sure about the truvia. I know about the concerns about the other sugar substitutes. I am trying to figure out how to leave the house once in awhile without kids. Maybe join a class at the Y or something. Am hopeful as I applied for financial aid. My counselor has been trying to get me to go do things on my own for awhile now and I never am able to. Just to go for a walk would be nice. It's hard to make myself do it though. Not a good self motivator.

I also used to drink Crystal Light, but gave up because of the aspartame. I generally drink just water or tea with Truvia, but I'll look for this on my next shopping trip as an alternative.

Who doesn’t love a cold, juicy slice of watermelon on a hot summer day?Watermelon has always been a healthy choice for a sweet treat – packed with fiber, electrolytes, nutrients including vitamins A, B6, C, potassium, and lycopene, a powerful antioxidant.

Now there may be even more of a reason to love it – a small pilot study by food scientists at Florida State University suggests that eating watermelon may ward off high blood pressure.

The researchers, led by FSU Assistant Professor Arturo Figueroa and Professor Bahram H. Arjmandi, gave a group of nine middle-aged men and women all suffering from pre-hypertension (meaning they had elevated blood pressure but not yet full blown hypertension) six grams of watermelon extract a day for six weeks. As the researchers described in the American Journal of Hypertension, the watermelon extract not only lowered each one of their subjects’ blood pressure, but it improved the function of their arteries.


http://www.care2.com/causes/eating-watermelon-may-lower-your-blood-pressure.html

now i wish i would have. it wasn't on my list. actually, i was going to come back around and get it but forgot. oh well. maybe i'll get some today if i go back in. thanks for the heads up!

Partly because not smoking made it easier to be active and because every time I wanted a cig I'd munch on sunflower seeds which tore my mouth up and made me drink lots of water.

Don't eat sunflower seeds anymore....

Congratulations on getting healthy!

It is easier to breath so it's easier to be more active. Never much of a fan of sunflower seeds because of the salt and unsalted didn't taste as good. Try to watch my salt intake because growing up my father had heart problems and that was one thing we always avoided at home. Oddly enough, I don't mind unsalted peanuts so I mix them with peanuts for a quick healthy snack.

I don't get it? I have been drinking more water recently

Been having kettle chips with sea salt with a lite lunch every day lately

:-(

LOL

/snark off

:rofl:

Good: vegetables, whole grains, fruit, nuts, yogurt
Bad: potato chips, potatoes, sugary beverages, red meat, processed meats

Who would have thunk? :rofl:

what a surprise.

The study was a waste of time, and my reading it was another waste of time.

Simple answer: Worry less about which foods and worry more about how much.
GAC

Just this past month, we've had 2 different doctors recommend this diet for 2 different family members, so we're all gradually switching to this eating plan.

50 years old and it's still working for me.

I wish I could get my parents to get out and play an hour a day.

Groundbreaking study, that one.

that makes the good ol' USA the world leader in science.

Veggies and yogurt help you lose it?

Who would have ever thunk it?

useless article

Wow he couldn't even be bothered to add any information to his slideshow?

...won't help me lose much weight?

This is what I was talking about when I was saying how there are so many nutritionists who can't even agree on how to lose weight properly that taxing 'bad' food is an exercise in promoting K Street lobbyists and nothing more.

and a pound of cashews a day?

Why not be less extreme and talk about a diet that is high in a more balanced group of foods, such as vegetables, fruits, whole grans, yoghurt and nuts?

Nobody needs to pig out on anything? Where in the world do you get this idea?

The point is that, once again, there is more to it than just 'eat fruits and stuff'. Then it has to be CERTAIN fruits and stuff, oh and you have to throw in this to go with it, and don't forget even more vegetables, and nuts...well, nuts if you only eat a few a day because they have more natural fat than virtually anything else. And not sesame seed nuts, but these over here that taste like cardboard, and...

(S.A.D.)to one more in line with this study if you find out about better foods and start eating them. Lots of people in this country do just that. They decide to eat more fruits and veggies and they just discover ways to prepare them that are better tasting and better for them. A little bit of curiosity will do it. It's hard in the winter, when our bodies want more "comfort" food but it can be done. I know people who do it. I'm not by any means a vegetarian, but I have started to feel better when I eat less bad stuff and eat more good stuff, and not too much. I dunno, I just don't like the feeling of being "stuffed" and when I think about it, eating good foods make me feel like I have more freedom from being shackled to old habits.

but she ate ALL the bananas. so it is possible. i think there were five bananas on that bunch of them. maybe six.

My weight gain or loss is directly related to the amount of change left over in my pocket after I pay rent, bills, transportation, maintenance, and creditors. Caloric intake above 1100 calories a day is a luxury for me.

Chances are you won't have to take my word for it soon.