Dietician Tripti Bhandari suggests a diet rich in fibre for weight loss

Do you starve yourself in an effort to achieve that hour-glass figure? Are you always trying to quash your hunger to remain reed thin? And do you worry about your meals being larger than they ideally should be? If the answers are yes, try the Volumetrics Diet Plan.

It’s a relatively new diet doing the rounds in the US and is all about eating food that is low in calorie (energy) density. Low-calorie density foods — which can be found in fruits, vegetables, soup, lean meat and low-fat dairy products — are high in water content and low in fat and contain fewer calories per bite.

Fundamentally, for any weight-loss diet, it’s the number of calories one consumes that really matter. Low-calorie diet restricts food intake to between 800 and 1,500 calories per day. The Volumetrics diet, created by nutritionist Barbara Rolls of the Pennsylvania State University, is all about feeling fuller by eating low-calorie food.

The key to this plan is figuring out how energy-dense (it means amount of energy stored in a given amount of food) certain foods are. Energy density can be calculated by dividing the number of calories (contained in a particular food) by the number of grams.

For instance, would you feel fuller by having two cups of grapes or would a one-fourth cup of raisins do the trick? Both contain 100 calories but you can have more grapes at the same time because of the high water content in it. So the thumb-rule is that the higher the water content of a given food, the lower its energy density and the more of it you can eat.

According to Rolls, a Volumetrics diet composition should consist of 20-30 per cent total calories from fat, 15 per cent-35 per cent total calories from protein and 55 per cent from carbohydrates.

“With Volumetrics, you are not meddling with your nutrients by cutting out on the fat completely or eating a high-protein diet. Nor will you need to give up your favourite foods like chocolate, bread or cheese,” says Shikha Sharma, health and weight-management consultant.

So what are these low-density foods? Typically, these include foods which are rich in fibre and are high in water content. So you can safely go for a huge bowl of assorted fruits rich in fibre (pretty much any kind of fruit fits the bill). Other options include a glass of vegetable juice (gourds, carrots, tomato), cucumber, celery, broccoli and green beans.

High energy-dense foods meanwhile consist of sweets, ice creams and chocolates. Along with fibre-rich foods, Volumetrics allows adequate portions of lean protein and healthy fats from fish and chicken.

Health and weight- management consultant Shikha Sharma says that Volumetrics diet plan works well in a tropical country like India because we have plenty of fruits and vegetables

A main course can be preceded by a soup or a salad. Says nutritionist Naini Setalwad: “Starting a meal with soup or salad will also fill your stomach and you will eat less of the main course.”

Explains Sharma: “It is a very scientific diet plan which lays great emphasis on high-water content and low-density foods like apples, pears, strawberries, plums, bananas, beans, oranges and green leafy vegetables.” And if you hanker for chocolate chip ice cream, go ahead and indulge but remember to limit it to a few spoonfuls. Sharma says that such a diet works well for a tropical country like India which offers loads of seasonal fruits and vegetables.

No foods are completely forbidden in this diet plan but limiting fatty foods like deep-fried stuff, sweets and fats are recommended. Limited amount of dry foods (popcorn, and nuts) are also allowed. Dietician Tripti Bhandari who helped actress Kangana Ranaut get slimmer for her upcoming film, Fashion, gave her lots of vegetable juices to drink. Says Bhandari: “A diet rich in fibres helps in better digestion and weight loss.”

What are the advantages of the Volumetrics diet? Says fitness instructor Leena Mogre: “A diet consisting mostly of refined foods like white bread and cookies makes one gain weight. However, Volumetrics has no side-effects as it’s all about fruits and vegetables.”

Volumetrics can also be adopted without consulting a dietician. Says Setalwad: “Unlike other diets — which need to be monitored — this is a simple plan which can be adopted by anyone.”

But it has its flip side too. According to Sharma, the chief problem of Volumetrics is the need to work on recipes. “Given the hectic schedule we all follow, people tend to snack on chips and cookies instead of having a whole meal. Also you cannot expect to keep a track of energy-densities all the time.”

Will Volumetrics work for you? At least you won’t feel like Oliver Twist and always be asking for more.  

Volumetrics Eating Plan

Morning
•Tea or vegetable juice like gourd with amla juice

Breakfast
• Oatmeal with skimmed-milk; Any two medium portions of fruits like apples and grapes; Eggs (without the yolk)

Lunch
• Salad (minus the dressing) like grilled chicken salad
• One whole-wheat chapati mixed with soya flour or one cup of brown rice
• Two small bowls of cooked vegetables
• Fish
• Curd
• Sliced fruits like strawberry or papaya

Snacks
• Non-fat milk or fruits of any choice
• Seeds like flaxseeds or pumpkin seeds or nuts like almonds or walnuts or sprouts

Dinner
• Green salads or clear soup
• Two chapatis or brown rice
• Fish or chicken
• Fruit-based dessert

By Shikha Sharma