Harvard Study Reveals How Certain Foods Effect Weight

Last month Harvard released a study on how certain foods affect weight. There is some really important information that you need to know if you’re going to be successful in losing weight. This study confirms some of the things that I’ve believed for years, but were scientifically yet to be supported. This study also challenges many current weight loss approaches.

First of all this is a large and significant study. This study was conducted by one of the leading and most respected educational institutions in the world. The researches followed more than 120,000 men and women in their 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s for over 20 years. They looked at various foods and drinks, as well as exercise, sleep patterns and other lifestyle choices and the impact that each has on affecting weight gain.

This study is based on a large number of people, followed over time, and it showed that there are particular types of food that are contributing more than others to the obesity problem (and there are some that protect against weight gain).

Here are the primary culprits.

Every additional daily serving of potatoes pushed up the scale by more than a pound every four years. But the type of potato is important. French Fries added 3.35 pounds and potato chips added 1.69 pounds.  And that’s only over a four year period. Over a forty year period, say from the age of 20 to 60, that’s 33.5 pounds from french fries and 16.9 pounds from potato chips. Eat both and you’ll gain 50.4 pounds in forty years. That’s Obesity!!!

Also every extra serving of refined grains, such as white bread added .39 pounds in four years. That may not sound like much. But statistically it’s the same as eating sweets and deserts.

Conventional wisdom has been that you should eat everything in moderation and just reduce your total calories; without paying attention to what those calories are made of. We need to re-think conventional wisdom. Refined carbohydrates cause blood sugar and insulin to surge. Which makes people feel less satisfied and eat more.

A surprise from the study is that yogurt helped to keep off nearly a pound of fat over a four year period.

Those you exercised more gained nearly 2 pounds less every four years than those who exercised the least.

People who slept less than six hours or more than eight hours were more likely to gain weight.

Now this study did have some limitations. The precise “serving size” varied among foods and relied on the participants memory and honesty.

But the study is based on a large number of people followed over time, and it shows there are particular types of good and are contributing more than others to the obesity problem.

The finding adds to the growing body of evidence that getting heavier is not just a matter of “calories in, calorie out” and that the mantra “Eat less and exercise more” is far too simplistic.

All foods are not equal, and just eating in moderation is not enough. The findings help to explain why many people put on weight little by little over the years without even realizing. Just by picking the wrong combinations and portions of foods and making unhealthy lifestyle choices, you can imperceptibly pile on the pounds as the years go by. Eventually becoming overweight or even obese.

So what can you do?

1. Eliminate or severely reduce potatoes (especially french fries and potato chips)

2. Eliminate or severely reduce refined grains (especially white bread)

3. Get between 6-8 hours of sleep every night

4. Exercise almost every day (if you don’t know what to do, I’ve got programs to help and you’re already on the site)

5. Eat Yogurt (This is a tough one for me because I’m not a big advocate of dairy products)

6. Pay attention to food combinations and proper portions.

This information is so powerful and will hopefully change the way to look at fat loss for the rest of your life. I originally simply wanted to share it with you and had no intentions of promoting anything, but this information is 100% in line with what I’ve been teaching people nutritionally for the last five years. If you are confused or think making these changes will be difficult, then you should get a STAX System. It is the only nutrition program that I recommend and it follows the findings of this study to the letter.

Or you could take all of this information and do nothing. If you do that, you’ll keep gaining weight.

I hope that you found this information interesting and helpful. If you did, please leave your comments below…I love’em and I’ll reply…