<p>Dr Painter put his “dieting without restriction” hypothesis to the test with a pilot study involving in-shell and shelled pistachios. In the study, initially comparable weights of nuts were selected. It was found that given the same amount of nuts people eat 50 per cent less when they have to remove the shell; yet participants report equal levels of satisfaction. This study shows that by making small changes such as choosing in-shelled pistachios, which slow down consumption time, one can curb calorie intake dramatically. What’s remarkable is that participants reported equal levels of satisfaction. Small changes such as this can have a positive effect on weight control.<br /><br />“My research shows that many of us are more influenced by perception than hunger. For example, subjects will eat larger portions when served food on a bigger plate, and will consume more alcohol when drinking from a wider glass. <br /><br />This tendency to eat mindlessly and rely on our senses, instead of real hunger, is one of the reasons why dieting doesn’t work. By making small behavioural changes and using visual cues, one can eat less without feeling deprived,” says Dr Painter.<br />“The Pistachio Principle is a unique way and approach to try and lose weight. It aims to show that people may be able to consume fewer calories without even trying to restrict their food intake,” said Naini Setalvad, nutritionist and obesity health consultant.<br /><br />Testing the principle<br /><br />* Instead of drinking juices, where calories are quickly consumed, eat fresh fruit instead — a whole orange, for example, eaten slowly and section-by-section after peeling, takes longer to consume and has the fibre you don’t find in the juice.<br /><br />* Try cutting up fresh fruits and veggies into much smaller pieces than normal and see how slowly you can eat them.<br /><br />“It takes 20 minutes for the brain to get the signal that we’re full. The Pistachio Principle may slow our eating down to the point where we can feel that the stomach is full before we take second helping,” says Dr Geetu Amarnani, nutrition consultant.<br /><br />Buy smaller portions<br /><br />Fool yourself thin by buying single serve chips in place of family bags. Studies show that large package size increases caloric consumption by an average of 22 per cent.<br /><br />Choose your meal companions wisely<br /><br />Bright light and fast music can encourage you to eat faster and ultimately lead you to consume more calories. Also, eating with friends generally increases the amount you eat.<br /><br />Keep impulse foods out of sight <br /><br />Put healthy snacks like nuts, fruits and vegetables in sight; and chocolate, candy and other unhealthy snacks in the cabinet.<br /><br />Nuts are nutritious<br /><br />Eating a handful of nuts every day helps lower total cholesterol and ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol, and improves the ratio of total cholesterol to ‘good’ HDL cholesterol, a study reports. <br /><br />Researchers pooled the results of 25 clinical trials that involved 583 participants over all. The study reported that eating just 2.4 ounces of nuts of any kind was associated with declines of 10.2 milligrams per decilitre in bad cholesterol, a drop of about 7.4 per cent, and 10.9 milligrams in total cholesterol, or 5.1 per cent. “Nuts are rich in unsaturated fats, and that is a main driver in lowering cholesterol,” said the lead author, Dr Joan Sabaté, a professor of nutrition at the School of Public Health at Loma Linda University in California. “They are the richest source of protein in the plant kingdom, and they also contain fibre and phytosterols, which compete with cholesterol to be absorbed. All these nutrients have been demonstrated to lower cholesterol.”<br /><br />The effect was most pronounced among people with higher LDL cholesterol to begin with and among those who were not obese. The more nuts they ate, the greater the effect. <br /><em>Roni Caryn Rabin NYT</em></p>
<p>Dr Painter put his “dieting without restriction” hypothesis to the test with a pilot study involving in-shell and shelled pistachios. In the study, initially comparable weights of nuts were selected. It was found that given the same amount of nuts people eat 50 per cent less when they have to remove the shell; yet participants report equal levels of satisfaction. This study shows that by making small changes such as choosing in-shelled pistachios, which slow down consumption time, one can curb calorie intake dramatically. What’s remarkable is that participants reported equal levels of satisfaction. Small changes such as this can have a positive effect on weight control.<br /><br />“My research shows that many of us are more influenced by perception than hunger. For example, subjects will eat larger portions when served food on a bigger plate, and will consume more alcohol when drinking from a wider glass. <br /><br />This tendency to eat mindlessly and rely on our senses, instead of real hunger, is one of the reasons why dieting doesn’t work. By making small behavioural changes and using visual cues, one can eat less without feeling deprived,” says Dr Painter.<br />“The Pistachio Principle is a unique way and approach to try and lose weight. It aims to show that people may be able to consume fewer calories without even trying to restrict their food intake,” said Naini Setalvad, nutritionist and obesity health consultant.<br /><br />Testing the principle<br /><br />* Instead of drinking juices, where calories are quickly consumed, eat fresh fruit instead — a whole orange, for example, eaten slowly and section-by-section after peeling, takes longer to consume and has the fibre you don’t find in the juice.<br /><br />* Try cutting up fresh fruits and veggies into much smaller pieces than normal and see how slowly you can eat them.<br /><br />“It takes 20 minutes for the brain to get the signal that we’re full. The Pistachio Principle may slow our eating down to the point where we can feel that the stomach is full before we take second helping,” says Dr Geetu Amarnani, nutrition consultant.<br /><br />Buy smaller portions<br /><br />Fool yourself thin by buying single serve chips in place of family bags. Studies show that large package size increases caloric consumption by an average of 22 per cent.<br /><br />Choose your meal companions wisely<br /><br />Bright light and fast music can encourage you to eat faster and ultimately lead you to consume more calories. Also, eating with friends generally increases the amount you eat.<br /><br />Keep impulse foods out of sight <br /><br />Put healthy snacks like nuts, fruits and vegetables in sight; and chocolate, candy and other unhealthy snacks in the cabinet.<br /><br />Nuts are nutritious<br /><br />Eating a handful of nuts every day helps lower total cholesterol and ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol, and improves the ratio of total cholesterol to ‘good’ HDL cholesterol, a study reports. <br /><br />Researchers pooled the results of 25 clinical trials that involved 583 participants over all. The study reported that eating just 2.4 ounces of nuts of any kind was associated with declines of 10.2 milligrams per decilitre in bad cholesterol, a drop of about 7.4 per cent, and 10.9 milligrams in total cholesterol, or 5.1 per cent. “Nuts are rich in unsaturated fats, and that is a main driver in lowering cholesterol,” said the lead author, Dr Joan Sabaté, a professor of nutrition at the School of Public Health at Loma Linda University in California. “They are the richest source of protein in the plant kingdom, and they also contain fibre and phytosterols, which compete with cholesterol to be absorbed. All these nutrients have been demonstrated to lower cholesterol.”<br /><br />The effect was most pronounced among people with higher LDL cholesterol to begin with and among those who were not obese. The more nuts they ate, the greater the effect. <br /><em>Roni Caryn Rabin NYT</em></p>
