Use your dinner plate to lose weight

Posted on Wed, 12 May 10

Everyone knows they should eat more vegetables but the reality is that most people do not even meet recommended intakes. Changing the way you serve meals is an effective solution to increasing your vegetable intake which may in turn improve your health and help with weight management.

Switching the balance

A recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that simply serving more vegetables at a meal either by adding more or substituting them for other foods, is an effective strategy to increase vegetable intake (1). This simple approach is not only an effective way to increases the amount of vegetables you eat each day but may help with weight loss. Importantly, the study found that when vegetables replaced high energy foods such as meats and grains there was a significant reduction in total energy intake.  Just serving more vegetables didn’t reduce energy intake and is less likely to affect body weight.

How to balance your plate

The results of this study suggest that increasing the percentage of vegetables on your dinner plate at the expense of high energy foods such as pasta, rice, potato and fatty meats is an effective strategy for improving the health of your diet. Furthermore this approach may also reduce your energy intake and result in weight loss.

Here is a simple rule to remember next time you eat; 50% of your plate should be vegetables and salad, 25% whole grains or starchy foods and the remaining 25% lean protein such as tofu, chicken, fish or beans. What does your plate look like?

References

1. Rolls BJ, Roe LS, Meengs JS. Portion size can be used strategically to increase vegetable consumption in adults. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Apr;91(4):913-22.

2. Rolls BJ, Drewnowski A, Ledikwe JH. Changing the energy density of the diet as a strategy for weight management. J Am Diet Assoc. 2005 May;105(5 Suppl 1):S98-103.