Plant-based diets are primarily focused on fruits and vegetables. But, do you know about the concept of eating more to weigh less? It’s simple. The “eat more, weigh less” diet recommends consuming less than 10 percent fat and almost zero cholesterol and eating as many plant source products that you want. A plant-based diet can help you implement this concept.
What is Energy Density
What happens if you add fruits to your regular diets? Fruits are low in calories, but not zero. Will fruits and vegetables make us gain weight? Absolutely not! They have fiber and give a feeling of fullness. But the actual reason is the lower energy density.
Energy density is the number of calories per unit weight of the food or beverage we consume. It is an important factor in body weight control in both adults and children. This concept gives us an option to eat more and weigh less.
Plant foods are high in water and fiber. This makes them lower in energy density. It gives a significant amount of weight without adding calories. Eating such foods can help you to feel fuller for a longer period. Such foods can be consumed as much as we want. Also, they provide a good amount of nutrients too.
High energy-dense foods like bacon, chocolate, and cheese chips can provide a high amount of calories with very few nutrients. Such foods in very small amounts can increase the fat content of the whole diet thus leading to weight gain.
Relationship between Energy Density and Body Weight
Research shows that there is a relationship between energy density and body weight, which gives an idea that consuming diets lower in energy density can be an effective strategy for weight control. This is also related to people’s dietary patterns. Humans tend to eat a consistent amount of food daily. The quantity remains the same even if the ingredients change. Energy density can be reduced in a variety of ways by adding vegetables and fruits to recipes or we can lower the fat or sugar content. Thus, plant-based diets give a feeling of fullness by providing fewer calories.
For example, a diet of 3000 calories can be decreased to 1500 when the ingredients are replaced with plant-based products. We are substituting less calorie-dense foods, which means a lot of fruits, whole grains, vegetables instead of meat and sugar. Consumers can enjoy the meal even if the calories are half in amount.
Substituting high-energy foods with plant products can limit calories as well. High-dense energy foods are usually processed and less healthy. They simply add calories to the diet. Lower energy-dense diets tend to be of more healthy foods and help to prevent a range of lifestyle chronic diseases. It makes us enjoy our meal too.
The interesting thing with a plant-based diet is that there is no calorie counting while you eat. You eat the food as much as you like. Plant foods are low in calorific value and very high in nutrient density. So, this helps you to lose weight as well as maintain a healthy and safe body.
Plant Based Diets 