WSJ Article

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At 08:13 AM 10/22/2003, you wrote:

I would be happy to mail my copy of

the WSJ article to anyone who has the

equipment to scan it in. Peg (e me off line at

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Is this the one to which you are referring?

E

ABOUT TARA PARKER-POPE

Tara -Pope writes Health Journal, a column devoted to exploring

health issues that directly affect our readers' daily lives -- whether

it's alerting them to a new surgical glue that can replace stitches or

explaining how too much headache medicine can actually cause headaches.

The goal of Health Journal is to arm consumers with information that will

help them make informed choices about health and medicine.

Tara began writing Health Journal in January 2000. Before that, she spent

five years as a consumer-products reporter, first for The Wall Street

Journal Europe in London and most recently from the Journal's New York

headquarters. Previously, she worked as a political and government

reporter for the Houston Chronicle and Austin-American Statesman. She is

a 1988 graduate of the University of Texas, where she majored in

sociology.

A native of Arizona who grew up in Ohio, Tara is married to Pope.

They live in Manhattan with their daughter Laney.

Send your comments about Health Journal to

healthjournal@....

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Dieter's Dream: How to Eat

More and Still Lose Weight

When it comes to dieting, bigger food is better.

That may be surprising to dieters who've struggled to cut calories by

eating less food. But a growing body of research now supports the notion

that it's the energy density of foods -- not the amount we eat or even

the overall fat content -- that most contributes to weight gain.

A food has a low energy density if it has few calories relative to its

weight. An easy way to choose these low-energy-dense foods is to choose

" big " foods -- those that are bulked up by fiber and water.

Chicken and rice soup, for instance, has a low energy density, with just

0.5 calorie per gram. And it will be just as filling and less fattening

as a similar amount of cheese ravioli, which has 3.2 calories per

gram.

Food labels don't tell you about energy density, so you have to do the

math yourself to calculate calories per gram. Foods that have up to 1.5

calories per gram are low energy dense. Foods with 1.5 to four calories

per gram are considered medium, while high-energy-dense foods have four

or more.

It might seem obvious that low-energy-dense foods such as chicken soup

are less fattening than the same amount of, say, potatoes au gratin. But

there are some surprises. Even a decadent-sounding cream of broccoli soup

with cheese has an energy density of just 0.8. But graham crackers,

though low in fat, have a high energy density, with 4.2 calories per

gram.

WHEN MORE IS LESS

Here's how to lower the energy density of your diet so you can eat more

without increasing your caloric intake

Switch to soups: Even creamy soups and rich stews have a lower

energy density than many foods.

Add bulk: Adding vegetables to pasta or casseroles or more veggies

to a salad lowers the energy density.

Beat your food: Smoothies and shakes fill you up longer the longer

they are whipped.

Substitute: Switch to low-fat dressings, cheeses and cooking oil

in recipes

• See a list of some

low-energy-dense food options.

And the energy-density idea works with indulgence foods, as well.

M & M's are considered a high-energy-dense food, with 4.9 calories per

gram. But for about the same calories of a package of M & M's, you

could have a slice of chocolate cake with frosting, at just 3.7 calories

per gram, or vanilla pudding made with 2% milk, at just one calorie per

gram. And you'd be left feeling far more satisfied.

The push to focus on the energy density of foods is backed by numerous

studies that show hunger tends to be satisfied by a certain volume of

food, regardless of the calorie content. In one Pennsylvania State

University study, researchers found that healthy women instinctively ate

about three pounds of food a day. It didn't matter if the foods were

high-calorie or low-calorie -- the women were driven by volume, not

calories. Because we are accustomed to a certain volume of food, when we

try to cut back on the amount we eat, we feel hungry -- which is the main

reason diets fail.

All of this runs counter to the notion that people who are overweight are

just eating too much food. Often those people are eating normal amounts

of food for their size -- they are just choosing energy-dense foods that

cause them to continue to gain weight.

To really make an impact on weight, people need to consume far more

" big " foods like fruits, vegetables, salads and soups. That can

include, for instance, adding more vegetables to bulk up casseroles or

other dishes to lower the overall energy density of favorite foods.

Dieters should pay attention to basic nutrition and eat a balanced diet,

but they should also work to ease high-energy-dense foods out of their

diets.

The problem is that our taste buds don't always like low-energy-dense

foods as much as small convenience foods like snack chips and brownies.

But new research shows there are ways to use low-energy-dense foods to

help curb consumption of more fattening foods, without having to give

them up altogether.

In a study presented Monday at the annual meeting of the North American

Association for the Study of Obesity, Penn State researchers studied how

eating salad before a meal could affect total calories a diner ends up

consuming.

GOOD EATS

•

Study

Says Ranks of the Very Obese Widen Sharply

•

Americans

Are Starting to Shape Up, Eat Healthier

Diners were allowed to eat as much regular cheese tortellini as they

wanted. One group was just given the tortellini, while other groups were

told they had to eat a serving of salad first. The salads included both

high-calorie and low-calorie dressings and cheeses, and the size varied

from a 1½ cup to three cups.

Researchers found that when diners pigged out on three cups of salad with

low-fat dressing, they ate 107 calories less -- or about 12% fewer

calories for the meal than when they didn't eat a first-course

salad.

The finding was surprising because studies have shown that first courses

tend to make people consume more calories, not less, because variety can

excite the appetite, which is why we forget we're full when a tantalizing

dessert arrives on the table.

In the case of the salad study, the first course had such low energy

density that it translated into fewer calories, despite the variety

effect. But be warned, the energy density of the salad matters as well.

Some diners were given a more energy-dense salad with full-fat dressing

and cheese. They ended up eating 145 calories more -- or about 17% more

calories for the whole meal -- than those who ate no salad at

all.

" People aren't that sensitive to calories when they're eating --

they're more sensitive to volume, " says Penn State nutrition

researcher Barbara Rolls, who has led many of the energy-density studies.

" After eating the salads, if they had a lot of [the low-calorie

one], it helped them to eat less. But if the salad had a lot of calories,

they didn't compensate by reducing their intake during the rest of the

meal. "

The lesson for dieters is to binge on a healthy salad or other very

low-energy-dense foods before a meal. It's worth noting that dieters in

the study rated the salads equally satisfying, and didn't notice the

difference between the full-fat dressings and cheeses and the lower-fat

options. But if you want to indulge in full-fat dressing, you still can,

as long as you further lower the energy density by adding a lot more

vegetables.

Pump Up the

Volume

Here's a comparison of how much more you can eat and still consume fewer

calories by switching from high-energy-dense foods to lower-energy-dense

substitutes:

Food Energy Density* Total Calories

1 jelly doughnut 3.4 289

2 frozen waffles 2.5 191

1 flour tortilla 3.3 114

2 corn tortillas 2.2 112

1/2 cup granola 4.6 220

1 cup oatmeal 0.6 145

1/4 cup raisins 3 109

1 1/2 cup grapes 0.7 92

M & M's plain (69 pc) 4.9 236

2 cream-filled chocolate cupcakes 3.6 230

4 oz. margarita 2.2 271

4 oz. white wine 0.7 80

1 cup cheese ravioli 3.2 280

1 slice thick-crust cheese pizza 2.9 202

2 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups 5.4 271

1 slice frosted chocolate cake 3.7 235

1 cup cream of broccoli/cheese soup 0.8 190

1 cup chicken noodle soup 0.3 75

1 cup premium ice cream 2.6 540

12 oz. Hardee's vanilla shake 1 350

8 oz. eggnog 1.4 342

8 oz. hot cocoa 0.5 124

1 hotdog with bun 2.5 242

1 cup beef stew with vegetables 0.9 220

* Calories per gram

Source: " The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan, " Barbara Rolls

and A. Barnett