How Does the Volumetrics Diet Help with Weight Loss?

What is the Volumetrics diet?

The Volumetrics diet appears on the list published by US News & World Report, Best Diets of 2020 where it ranks 5th.

This diet was pioneered by Pennsylvania State University nutrition professor Barbara Rolls and her team. The Volumetrics diet is an eating plan with a low calorie density. By eating foods with a high water content and low calorie density, it aims to reduce feelings of hunger.

An 8-year study involving more than 50,000 women linked foods with a high calorie density to increased weight gain. These may be effective strategies for increasing weight loss and controlling hunger.

The Volumetrics diet encourages you to eat nutritious foods that are low in calories and high in water, such as fruit, vegetables and soups. It limits calorie-dense foods such as cookies, sweets, nuts and oil.

Volumetrics diet categories

Category 1 (very low calorie density): a calorie density below 0.6

• Fruit
• Non-starchy vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, peaches, bananas, strawberries and grapefruit
• Soups: vegetable soup, chicken soup, vegetable soup, carrots, tomatoes, courgettes and cabbage
• Skimmed milk and yogurt
• Drinks: water, coffee and unsweetened tea

Category 2 (low calorie density): a calorie density of 0.6-1.5

• Whole grains: quinoa, couscous, buckwheat, barley and brown rice
• Legumes: chickpeas, lentils, black beans and kidney beans
• Starchy vegetables: potatoes, corn, peas, squash and parsnips
• Lean proteins: skinless poultry, white fish and lean beef

Category 3 (medium calorie density): a calorie density of 1.6-3.9

• Meat: oily fish, poultry with skin and fatty beef
• Refined carbohydrates: white bread, white rice, crackers and white pasta
• Full-fat dairy: whole milk, full-fat yogurt, ice cream and cheese

Category 4 (high calorie density): a calorie density between 4.0-9.0

• Nuts: almonds, walnuts, peanuts and pistachios
• Seeds: chia, sesame, hemp and flaxseeds
• Fats: butter, sunflower oil, olive oil, margarine and lard
• Processed foods: cookies, sweets, crisps, simit and fast food

As a general rule for calculating calorie density, divide the number of calories in a particular portion of food by its weight in grams. You will obtain a figure between 0 and 9.

In a meal suited to the Volumetrics diet, most of the plate consists of category 1 foods. You can choose category 2 foods to complete your plate. You can eat small amounts of category 3 and limited amounts of category 4. This diet provides around 1400 calories a day. In the Volumetrics diet, no food is completely forbidden. You can include high-calorie foods in the diet by changing your portions and adjusting your other meals.

The diet also recommends at least 30-60 minutes of exercise every day. This can increase weight loss by increasing the number of calories burned. Keeping a physical activity and food diary helps you monitor your progress.

Health benefits of the Volumetrics diet

• It improves diet quality. Some research links diets with a low calorie density to improved diet quality.
• Most processed foods are restricted in the diet because they have a high calorie density.
• It encourages a healthy lifestyle by recommending low-calorie foods such as fruit and vegetables.
• Because no foods are forbidden, you can enjoy your favorite foods.

Potential disadvantages of the diet

• Understanding the diet may require considerable energy and time.
• The diet restricts healthy fats such as nuts, avocados and nut butter. However, many nutritious diets, such as the Mediterranean diet, recommend eating these foods.
• Many low-calorie foods may contain added sugar and other ingredients to improve their taste. Being low in calories does not mean something is healthy.

Summary and conclusion

An eating plan based on low-calorie foods is one of the effective methods for losing weight. The goal of this diet is to increase feelings of fullness through fiber consumption. The Volumetrics diet shifts your focus to healthy foods without removing any food group from your diet. This reduces your chances of experiencing the vitamin and mineral deficiencies seen with strict diets. Because the Volumetrics diet has no severe restrictions, you have a greater chance of sticking with it. Although it limits some foods encouraged in the Mediterranean diet, the Volumetrics diet has managed to enter the list of the healthiest diets.