Energy balance
Increasing daily servings of potato chips, potatoes, sugar-sweetened beverages, unprocessed red meats, and processed meats is independently associated with greater long-term weight gain, whereas increasing servings of vegetables, whole grains, fruits, nuts, and yogurt is associated with less weight gain.
To prevent long-term weight gain, focus on specific food swaps rather than just counting calories. Reduce daily servings of potato chips, french fries, sugar-sweetened beverages, and processed meats. Instead, increase your intake of yogurt, nuts, fruits, whole grains, and vegetables. These changes are independently associated with less weight gain, likely because they are more satiating and displace less healthy options.
On the basis of increased daily servings of individual dietary components, 4-year weight change was most strongly associated with the intake of potato chips (1.69 lb), potatoes (1.28 lb), sugar-sweetened beverages (1.00 lb), unprocessed red meats (0.95 lb), and processed meats (0.93 lb) and was inversely associated with the intake of vegetables (−0.22 lb), whole grains (−0.37 lb), fruits (−0.49 lb), nuts (−0.57 lb), and yogurt (−0.82 lb)
Why this rating
Large prospective cohorts (N=120,877), long follow-up (up to 20 years), multivariable adjustments, and consistent findings across cohorts.
Source
Changes in Diet and Lifestyle and Long-Term Weight Gain in Women and Men
Dariush Mozaffarian et al. · New England Journal of Medicine · 2011
DOI 10.1056/nejmoa1014296
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