Discussion Board

Hi Jeff,

Is there any evidence showing that eating a large variety of foods is any better than eating a small variety of foods?

I have always been told to eat many varieties of each food groups to get all the needed nutrients:

Rice, corn, wheat, millet… for grains
Chick peas, black beans, lentils ... for legumes
Same idea for vegetables, fruits, nuts, …

However when I have had the opportunity to visit native traditional societies, it is noticeable that they eat from the same small group of food products 99% of the time.

As the joke goes: they eat rice and beans for breakfast, beans and rice for lunch and they mix their leftovers for dinner. It could be corn and black beans, or rice and lentils, etc. The idea is that the same foods are eaten on a daily basis. Usually a grain and a legume with a small portion of vegetables and other food products.

It has been argued that they eat this way because that is all they have. Or all they can afford. Or that they don’t know any better. Others have argued that one’s digestive system gets perfectly used to a smaller number of foods and it performs much better with the adequate combination of bacterial flora and the right amount of enzymes and bile for their limited diet. Hence they argue in favor of a simplified diet and that there are no advantage to eating several kinds of grains or legumes.

Looking at the Okinawa traditional diet, they were eating a limited amount of food products and that did not stop them from becoming one of the most famous group of centenarians.

What do you think? Is the idea that eating a large variety of food an obsolete notion from rich societies or is there some advantage to it?

For myself, I do enjoy eating very similar meals day after day. I don’t get bored and/or feel that anything is missing. My “belief” is that it is important to eat a variety of “food groups” but that it is not necessary at all to eat a variety of products within each food group. One representative of each group is just fine. One grain, one legume, one green leafy vegetable, one root vegetable, one fruit, etc. But really my question is: even though it may be fine to eat a limited diet, is there actually any advantage to it? Or any disadvantage?

Your thoughts? I understand this may be more of an anthropological question than a nutritional question but I am curious- are you aware of any research about this topic?

Thanks

Hi,

Many cultures around the world have survived, (and even thrived) on very limited food supplies with very limited varieties of the foods. Not only the Okinawans and Chinese centenarians on mostly sweet potatoes but also the Tarahumara's & the Pima's in the Sierra Madre's Mountains of Mexico on corn and beans, the Papau of New Guinea, the Irish on potatoes, etc, And of course, the simple variety available to them changed somewhat over the course of the year.

The negative aspect of this is that "if" the soil happens to be deficient in a mineral, then there is a greater chance for deficiency of that mineral. There are two well known examples of this happening including the problem with iodine in the Great Lakes "Goiter Belt" of America, and selenium in an area of China.

However, even if you or I were to select a diet with very little variety, the likelihood of this happening to anyone today is much less because even if we choose few foods, these few foods would be coming from all over the country and/or world. We do not get our produce just from the local area.

The "proven" advantages of this is that reducing food variety, reduces food intake. So, it is a great strategy for someone wanting to reduce their caloric intake.

In fact, the food industry takes advantage of this in reverse. Its a phenomenon known as the "salad bar" effect. They know that the more varieties of their product they make available to you, the more you will buy and the more you will consume (~25%).

http://thelondonfog.blogspot.com/2004/0 ... it-is.html

Personally, I think there is a lot to be said for simplicity.

In Health
Jeff

PS

I wrote this about 10 years ago..

Simplicity: The Key to Health!
Chef Jeff's Weekly Health Tips
December 7, 1998

"Variety" may be the "spice of life" but "simplicity" is truly the "key to health"

Over the last 16 years of following the principles of "healthful living", I often hear the following comment...

"Jeff, this is SIMPLE for you to do and follow because you have been doing it for so LONG".

To which I respond...

"You have it backwards, the reason I have been able to do this for so LONG is because I have always kept it so SIMPLE."

Well, turns out that maybe I am correct as my personal philosophy and thoughts were just recently supported by an interesting study that was done. These results may also be able to help many of you by pointing out the "key" component to following a program of healthful living successfully.

This study was designed to test the theory that very simple, uncomplicated diets would result in higher levels of compliance/adherence and weight loss in an outpatient setting then diets with more variety and complexity. The study was a realistic test of what can be achieved by dietary treatment alone for obese patients because the patients were typical of the general population who are trying to lose weight. They traveled to the clinic at their own expense, neither paid nor received money, and bought the food they ate at normal retail outlets. No drug or surgical treatment was offered and no exercise or behavioral therapy programs were provided.

The patients were randomized to one of three diets, each of which was designed to produce an initial energy deficit sufficient to produce weight loss. The three diets were of increasing variety and consisted of......

1) a very simple diet (VSD) which included just one food;

2) the same very simple diet (VSD+V) with added variety of fruits and vegetables; and

3) a typical conventional diet (TCD).

The patients completing the trial in the simple diet group achieved the highest overall mean weight loss (~25 lbs in 16 weeks). Compliance/adherence was similar for the two simple diets but much lower for the typical conventional diet. It was easier for the subjects to stick to the simple diets.

The authors expected that patients on the simple diet with added variety would have a greater weight loss than those on the the simplest diet as it was still simple but much less boring and patients were more likely to comply with it. However, the greatest weight loss was in the patients on the simplest diet alone.

While neither the authors of the study nor I am recommending anyone to live on a diet of just one food, the study does make a very interesting and key point. And that is, that the simpler the diet, the greater the compliance and the greater the results. The two simplest diets produced the greatest compliance and the greatest results. The typical complex diet had the lowest compliance and produced the least amount of weight loss.

The more we try to complicate our diets and/or lifestyle, the harder they become to follow. The key to any diet or lifestyle program is simplicity. Very few of us have the time and/or energy to spend extra hours in the kitchen or in the food stores. Nor do we have the time to learn 100's of new recipes and food products.

So, don't try to complicate your program of healthful living.

Find out what works for you and stick to it. Create simple meals based around vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes.

For Breakfast..
Whole grain cereal
Fresh Fruit

For Lunch &/or Dinner
Salad
Steamed Vegetables
Soup
Complex Carbohydrate (Rice, Potato, Yam, Legumes, etc)
Legumes (beans)

Snacks
Fruits
Vegetables
Soups
Potatoes

Keep your overall program and menu simple. Look for variety within each of the food groups by using different varieties of vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains over the course of a day or a week.

As a mentor of mine once said, "this programs (healthful living) is not supposed to become your life, it is supposed to give you your life back".

So, Keep It Simple!!

Because simplicity REALLY is....

"The Key To Health"

Have another great week, and remember...

Your Health Is Your Greatest Wealth!

In Health,
Jeff

BMJ. 1998 November 28; 317(7171): 1487–1489.

I think this (Simplicity: The Key to Health) is one of the most helpful posts I've read in a long time! I keep trying to complicate matters - while for the best results I need to KISS.

Karen

Good post. I vote that it be moved to the perennial "Hot Topics" sticky.

Your wish is my command!

Done

In Health
Jeff

in one of his dvds. The study asked students I think to do something fairly simple, like donate a can of food to charity. The students were evaluated by other students on the basis of how likely they were to do it.

Then, within the groups, some of the students were "helped" by specific directions and reminders I think. The conclusion was that the small amount of help students received was a much more important factor than their actual generosity and tendency to make the donation.

Never underestimate our laziness and how important it is to keep things simple. The hardest thing about the McDougall program is the transition. It takes effort, plus you have the withdrawal from the pleasure trap. But once you get a routine, it is not that hard at all to my surprise.

I notice even here that not many people are committed to strict adherence to this program, and I believe that a large part of that is the failure to get a routine going. Take breakfast. By eating the same thing every day, it is easy to shop, easy to prepare, and easy to know I am eating a good meal.

If only real life worked this way, and this promptly. Le sigh.

It seems to me this would be a separate issue. Even if people ate more varieties of food, if all the food comes from the same deficient soil, all the food would be deficient for that missing mineral.


This is an excellent point too. Many vitamin/mineral promoters have used the deficient soil argument to sell their products. But since we get our products from many different environment nowadays, this concept may be completely obsolete. Just a marketing gimmick.

Could this be then a good strategy to address the concerns of those who feel they are too thin or are losing too much weight? By eating a broader variety of food, they would be automatically getting more calories and weight gain would be more likely.

I agree. If a isolated culture is getting all their food from their local region and that soil is deficient, it would effect all the food. This is what happened in the 2 regions I mentioned. It is a separate issue but thought I would mention it.



Increasing the variety of food available can increase the likelihood of increasing calories but it would work only if their diet is very limited to begin with and also depend on what the composition of the food is. There are many other factors that come into play and there is more to it though than just increasing variety. Remember, at the 10 day program, there is an incredible variety and availability of food, but the average weight loss is about 7-10 lbs.

However, it almost always works in reverse, limiting variety limits food intake.

The magic of Marys Mini revealed

In Health
Jeff

Thank you for this thread. I'm new and needed it today.

I can handle simplicity.

You can add:
Jim Brown McDougall 54lbs lost

Thanks

Keep On Keeping It Simple!

(NOTE: Tools to help you keep it simple)

A Simple Nutritious & Affordable Plan (SNAP)
viewtopic.php?t=10519

Healthy Packaged Foods
viewtopic.php?t=10254

Quick Recipes (With Pictures)
viewtopic.php?t=7168

Simple, Easy & Starch Based
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=15014

In Health
Jeff

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 085516.htm

Sticking to Diets Is About More Than Willpower -- Complexity Matters

ScienceDaily (Jan. 15, 2010) — Many people think the success of dieting, seemingly a national obsession following the excesses and resolutions of the holiday season, depends mostly on how hard one tries -- on willpower and dedication. While this does matter, new research has found that a much more subtle aspect of the diets themselves can also have a big influence on the pounds shed -- namely, the perceived complexity of a diet plan's rules and requirements.

Cognitive scientists from Indiana University and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin compared the dieting behavior of women following two radically different diet plans and found that the more complicated people thought their diet plan was, the sooner they were likely to drop it.

"For people on a more complex diet that involves keeping track of quantities and items eaten, their subjective impression of the difficulty of the diet can lead them to give up on it," reported Peter Todd, professor in IU's Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

Jutta Mata, now a professor of psychology at Stanford University, said this effect holds even after controlling for the influence of important social-cognitive factors including self-efficacy, the belief that one is capable of achieving a goal like sticking to a diet regimen to control one's weight.

"Even if you believe you can succeed, thinking that the diet is cognitively complex can undermine your efforts," she said.

Dieting is not all in one's head -- environment matters, too, the professors say. The physical environment has to be set up properly, such as putting snack foods out of sight to avoid mindless eating. But the cognitive environment, they say, must also be appropriately constructed, by choosing diet rules that that one finds easy to remember and follow.

For people interested in following a diet plan, Mata suggests they take a look at several diet plans with an eye toward how many rules the plans have and how many things need to be how many things need to be kept in mind.

"If they decide to go with a more complex diet, which could be more attractive for instance if it allows more flexibility, they should evaluate how difficult they find doing the calculations and monitoring their consumption," she said. "If they find it very difficult, the likelihood that they will prematurely give up the diet is higher and they should try to find a different plan."

About the study: The study examined both the objective and subjective complexity of two diet plans. Brigitte, the cognitively simpler of the two, is a popular German recipe diet that provides shopping lists for the dieters, thus requiring participants to simply follow the provided meal plan. Weight Watchers assigns point values to every food and instructs participants to eat only a certain number of points per day. The 390 women involved were recruited from German-language Internet chat rooms dealing with weight management and were already in the midst of using one of the two diet plans. They answered questionnaires at the beginning, mid-point and end of an eight-week period.

While losing weight initially isn't rocket science, keeping it off remains a challenge to dieters. It generally is believed that the longer people can adhere to their diet plan, the more successful they will be long-term with their weight loss maintenance. And the more like rocket science one's diet plan feels, Todd and Mata report, the less likely that long-term adherence and maintenance is to succeed.




Mata, J., et al. When weight management lasts: Lower perceived rule complexity increases adherence. Appetite (2009), doi:10.1016/j.appet.2009.09.004

ABSTRACT
Maintaining behavior change is one of the major challenges in weight management and long-term weight loss. We investigated the impact of the cognitive complexity of eating rules on adherence to weight management programs. We studied whether popular weight management programs can fail if participants find the rules too complicated from a cognitive perspective, meaning that individuals are not able to recall or process all required information for deciding what to eat. The impact on program adherence of participants’ perceptions of eating rule complexity and other behavioral factors known to influence adherence (including previous weight management, self-efficacy, and planning) was assessed via a longitudinal online questionnaire given to 390 participants on two different popular weight management regimens. As we show, the regimens, Weight Watchers and a popular German recipe diet (Brigitte), strongly differ in objective rule complexity and thus their cognitive demands on the dieter. Perceived rule complexity was the strongest factor associated with increased risk of quitting the cognitively demanding weight management program (Weight Watchers); it was not related to adherence length for the low cognitive demand program (Brigitte). Higher self-efficacy generally helped in maintaining a program. The results emphasize the importance of considering rule complexity to promote long-term weight management.


And, an earlier one by the same author.


Mata, J., et al. Keep it on: How complex diet rules prevent weight loss. Appetite (2008), doi:10.1016/j.appet.2007.09.046

We investigated the impact that the cognitive complexity of diet rules has on adherence to weight loss diets. The underlying assumption guiding this research was that popular weight loss diets can fail at the individual level if they are too complicated from a cognitive point of view, meaning that dieters are not able to recall or apply all required information. The impact of excessive cognitive demands on diet compliance and dieters’ perception of diet rule complexity were investigated (1) from an environmental perspective, by analysing diet environments (i.e., diet rules in diet books), and (2) from the perspective of the dieter in an online-questionnaire. First results suggest that diets with more complex diet rules correlate with lower adherence rates from clinical trials examining popular weight loss diets. In our longitudinal study with more than 1200 participants who are trying to lose weight, we show that perceived difficulty reported at the first measurement point predicts quitting of the diet prematurely (i.e., before goal weight or time planned to be on diet are reached) at later points in time.

Yeah! Let's hear it for simple!

AB

In regard to keeping it simple: Great advice!

If you want to make it complicated, you can but that does mean that your results will be better!

I keep it simple and this seems to be working well for me. On most days I eat about four different colorful veggies (mostly green veggies), brown rice and either potatoes or sweet potatoes.