A new study suggests that eating more fiber and fruit each day is the key to maintaining a normal weight. The study is based on the results of examining the diets of 52 normal-weight adults and 52 overweight or obese adults.
The study found that normal weight adults consumed 33 percent more dietary fiber and 43 percent more complex carbohydrates than the obese ones. Dietary fiber and complex carbohydrates are associated with a lean mass and thus less fat."These findings suggest that the composition of a diet, especially low dietary fiber and fruit intake, play a role in the (development) of obesity," the researchers report in the June 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
Dietary fiber also prolongs the feeling of fullness thus ensuring that there is adequate break between meals. Reuters quoted lead study author, Dr. Jaimie N. Davis of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles as telling that dietary fiber, complex carbohydrates and fruit were associated with lower body fat stores in adults.
"These results suggest that increasing dietary fiber, complex carbohydrates and fruit in an individual's diet should be an important part of dietary interventions."
