3-5 lbs of food a day?

[geo]

I've heard a lot that people eat between 3-5 lbs of food a day (the average being about 4 lbs) regardless of calorie source. Is this true and can you possibly link me to some studies?

[JeffN]

>>>>>> I've heard a lot that people eat between 3-5 lbs of food a day (the average being about 4 lbs) regardless of calorie source. Is this true and can you possibly link me to some studies?


Yes.

This has always been a key point in understanding why and how calorie density works. Not so much the accuracy of the 3-5 lbs, but that people tend to eat the same weight of food a day. If you watch me CD talk on YouTube, you will see a few slide on this.’

In regard to the accuracy, yes, that is about what the studies show. Not 3-5 lbs with an average of 4, but about a 3-5 lb average with some consuming more or less. However, remember, as with all studies, there is always inherent errors based on how the numbers were collected (actual weighting, survey, etc) and what was counted (food, beverages, both) and how it was counted. For instance, pre-cooked weight can be much different that cooked weight but it is easier to use pre-cooked weight because that is how we buy food. You also may hear of those who eat a lot of raw foods, especially high in raw veggies, say they eat much more food in weight. Part of the reason is, if they are trying to get in enough calories, they actually do not absorb as much so have to either eat much more of the raw veggies to compensate which will raise the weight they consume, or, turn to higher fat foods, dried fruits and/or cooked starches.

Having said all that, here are some references for you.

First, this is a great overview from the CDC

https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/nutrit ... ensity.pdf

In a study by Bell et al., normal weight women were pro- vided with all of their meals over 2 days on three different occasions. On each occasion, the meals were modi ed by varying the amounts of vegetables offered (1) so that the 2-day diets differed in energy density. Although the par- ticipants could eat as much or as little as they liked, they ate similar amounts of food by weight during the 2 days. Consequently, reducing the energy density of the diet by adding extra vegetables led to a reduction in energy intake. Despite the reduced calorie intake, participants rated them- selves equally full and satis ed.

In another study, Duncan and colleagues found that providing people with a reduced-fat diet that contained substantial amounts of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans over 5 days led to the participants consuming fewer calories than when they were provided with a diet containing large amounts of high-fat meats and desserts (2). Again, the participants consumed comparable weights of food during each 5-day session, and they reported that each diet satis ed their hunger similarly. In a study lasting 3 weeks, Shintani et al. provided participants with a tradi- tional Hawaiian diet that was rich in fruits and vegetables (3, 4). This diet was substantially lower in energy density than the participants’ habitual diet. Participants consumed a similar weight of food with both diets, which led to a reduction of their daily energy intake on the low-energy- dense traditional diet. Despite the reduced energy intake, which was suf cient to lead to weight loss during the 3 weeks, the subjects reported the diet to be moderately to highly satiating.

These (1-4) and other studies (5-8) indicate that over the course of a few days, the weight of food a person consumes is fairly consistent and is more consistent than energy intake. Therefore, encouraging people to eat more foods low in energy density and to substitute these foods for those higher in energy density helps them decrease their caloric intake while eating satisfying portions of food and controlling hunger.

1.Bell EA, Castellanos VH, Pelkman CL, Thorwart ML, Rolls BJ. En- ergy density of foods affects energy intake in normal-weight women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1998;67:412-420.

2.Duncan KH, Bacon JA, Weinsier RL. The effects of high and low energy density diets on satiety, energy intake, and eating time of obese and nonobese subjects. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1983;37:763-767.

3.Shintani TT, Beckham S, Brown AC, O’Connor HK. The Hawaii Diet: ad libitum high carbohydrate, low fat multi-cultural diet for the reduc- tion of chronic disease risk factors: obesity, hypertension, hypercholes- terolemia, and hyperglycemia. Hawaii Medical Journal 2001;60:69-73.

4.Shintani TT, Hughes CK, Beckham S, O’Connor HK. Obesity and cardiovascular risk intervention through the ad libitum feeding of traditional Hawaiian diet. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1991;53:1647S-1651S.

5.Lissner L, Levitsky DA, Strupp BJ, Kalkwarf HJ, Roe DA. Dietary fat and the regulation of energy intake in human subjects. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1987;46:886-892.

6.Kendall A, Levitsky DA, Strupp BJ, Lissner L. Weight loss on a low- fat diet: consequence of the imprecision of the control of food intake in humans. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1991;53:1124-1129.

7.Rolls BJ, Shide DJ. Dietary fat and the control of food intake. In: Fernstrom JD, Miller GD, eds. Appetite and Body Weight Regulation: Sugar, Fat, and Macronutrient Substitutes. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, Inc., 1994:167-177.

8.Rolls BJ, Bell EA, Castellanos VH, Chow M, Pelkman CL, Thorwart ML. Energy density but not fat content of foods affected energy intake in lean and obese women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1999;69:863-871.


Second, here are 2 references and charts, both of which are in my Calorie Density presentation. You will often hear about 2.5 to 5 and most often around 3.5 to 4.5 but it all depends on the individual. You and I may differ but your food weight will remains fairly consistent as will mine.

Figure 1
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/67/3/ ... l.pdf+html

Figure 1
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/62/2/ ... l.pdf+html

Here are 4 more you may find of value. A few of them touch on the weight of food we consume per day

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar ... 840900122X

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/85/6/1465.long

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/85/5/1212.long

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/88/6/1459.full

http://www.andjrnl.org/article/S0002-8223(06)00889-3/fulltext


In Health
Jeff

[geo]

Thank you Jeff! I will review the links provided with great interest...

Unfortunately, now this all leads to more questions from me

I find this hard to come to grips with because its easy to take this to extremes. For instance, someone eating 4 lbs of lettuce vs 4 lbs potatoes over the course of a day. I would be quite satiated with the potatoes but be ravenous with just the lettuce (I believe, never actually tried it). Which tells me that their is some constraint within the idea of "regardless of calorie source".

Of course calorie density plays a big role in this and weight control, but how does it fit in within the context of 4 lbs of food or even a higher volume of food (thinking bulk, not weight), in terms of satiety?

It also brings up the question as to what exactly are the most important factors in satiety? Is it food weight, food bulk, calories? or is it some other mechanism such as hormones, cultural/societal norms, mental issues, disease processes, time of day, physical exersions, etc... Or is it simply all of the above and trying to figure out which may be most important is just another fool's errand? Most likely do to differences in individuals as well.

My gut says, don't worry about it, just try it for yourself and see what happens And thats what I normally go with, but it would be nice to have scientific validation as well.

Maybe, I'm off in the weeds, or maybe we just don't know at this pioint and the standard, "we ned more studies" is the correct answer...

[JeffN]

Remember, calorie density is just one aspect, weight of food is just one aspect. There are several other aspects and all of them have many fine points within.

This may help somewhat...

Finding The Sweet Spot: Balancing Calorie Density, Nutrient Density & Satiety
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=22432&p=217427

Remember, without knowing any of this, look at how well it worked for you.

So, don’t overthink it.

In Health
Jeff

[geo]

Thank you again Jeff. That thread confirms many of the thoughts I've had and answers many of my questions.

Remember, without knowing any of this, look at how well it worked for you.

Thats true but only because I've learned from the best... and I bothered to just do it

So, don’t overthink it.

Amen!