A recent study in A Cancer Journal for Clinicians indicated that, despite popular wisdom, consuming more fruits and vegetables won’t reduce rates of obesity.
The dictum that eating more of the nutrient dense foods would slim our society has taken hold in recent years, and has become the basis for a number of public health initiatives encouraging fruit and vegetable consumption. But according to researchers, these programs are based on false assumptions.
Namely, the belief is that if people eat more fruits and vegetables, they’ll fill up and take in less calorically dense foods. Some of us have heard the tip to eat an apple before a meal because you’ll consume less of the higher calorie items, or to always start with a salad.
But what actually happens is that we tend to eat the apple or the salad, and consume just as much. In fact, it could be the case that our eating the “healthy” item psychologically primes us to feel we then deserve something “unhealthy.” Researchers found that people eat on average 30 more pounds of vegetables and 25 more pounds of fruit than 50 years ago, and yet they believe that we are heavier as a nation.
So what can we take away from this research?
If we are eating fruits and vegetables to reduce our waistlines, we might be sorely disappointed. But we still might have less disease, think and feel emotionally better, have prettier skin, and have more energy. And I think those are all much better reasons to consume than to have a lower number on a scale.
Oh, and they are delicious and better for the environment than animal-based products and highly processed foods. So there’s that.
We also have to recognize the difference between what is true for a society and what is true for an individual. While increasing fruit and vegetable consumption overall didn’t reduce population-wide weight, eating them could have an impact on an individual. That may not even be weight (or it could be…), but could be even more important health indicators.
So the message you’ll read here is this: don’t give up on your fruits and veggies. And don’t worry so much about what will make you thinner. Listen to your taste buds and tune in to the foods that make you feel happy and healthy.