Can’t resist chips?
Today’s weight loss tip comes from Harvard University scientists who have compiled a ‘league table’ of foods that cause the most weight gain over the years.
Top of the list comes chips and crisps – followed by sugary drinks; meat and then boiled, baked or mashed potatoes. The study – analysis of data from more than 120,000 people over 20 years – showed the average person gains almost 1lb a year in adulthood, often as a result of eating excess calories equivalent to little more than a biscuit a day.
The study also found that keeping trim wasn’t a question of cutting calories, so much as eating the right kind of calories.
Starchy foods, those containing refined carbohydrates, and processed foods were most associated with weight gain; but eating cheese or drinking full-fat milk didn’t seem to have less of an impact, possibly beacuse they take longer to break down and are thus more sustainable.
Vegetables (other than potatoes) were associated with weight loss; as were fruit, nuts, wholegrains and yoghurt.
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