New Evidence for Portion Control in Obesity Care

I found this feature and the research it covers very interesting – not least because I am interested in portion control

but also about food choice. I still maintain that the way forward for most wishing to lose weight is checking portion size but I know for bariatrics that the portion also has to be nutritionally adequate and carefully proportioned. There’s no harm with the occasional ready meal (and I am not so squeaky clean as to say they don’t occasionally feature on my menus) but sadly I haven’t found a range that has sufficient protein or is carb-controlled in such as way as to satisfy my nutritional requirements. The nearest I have found have been the M & S ‘Fuller for Longer’ range but I often have to pick my way through the dishes in that selection too.

My solution has been to batch cook some regularly enjoyed meals and then freeze balanced portions of them for the days when I can’t cook, don’t want to cook or time just simply runs out, and for the most part this works. Cooking from scratch can seem like a chore but it’s surprisngly easy if you choose a few dishes that can be tweaked to give several types of meals. Recipes like ragu that can make a great bolognaise; chilli, shepherd’s type pie, lasagne, moussaka, omelette filling etc (see here).

But for the best portion control I use my Bariatric Bento Plate which gives me a perfectly proportioned and portioned entree dish at every meal if I follow the guidelines on protein, carbs and vegetables/salads on the guidelines discreetly shown.

A new study published today in Obesity provides good evidence that portion control can be a very simple and effective way to improve outcomes for weight management. Cheryl Rock and colleagues conducted a randomized, controlled trial of common portion-controlled, prepackaged entrées (in this study, Lean Cuisine) to enhance a typical weight management program.

Everyone in the study received the same behavioral weight loss support, but the control group selected their own foods. After 12 weeks, people who used the portion-controlled foods lost about one-third more weight. The study was conducted at the University of California at San Diego with funding from Nestlé, the makers of Lean Cuisine.

The point of this study is not that this particular brand offers magical weight loss outcomes. The real point is that the pre-portioned meals can make it simple to reduce the possibility that portion distortion will undermine efforts to lose weight. It’s a simple, readily available tool for raising the odds of success.

Of course, this is a short-term study and what really matters in obesity is long-term outcomes. But it provides a starting place for more research. And it gives people a clue that portion-controlled entrées might be a good strategy if they can make them part of an ongoing strategy for weight management.

An important detail to note is that people who were assigned to get the portion-controlled entrées were just as satisfied with the food as the people who chose their own food. Satisfaction with the food might just improve the odds of sticking with it.

Click here to read the study and here to read more about the role of portion control in weight management.

Feature courtesy of http://www.conscienhealth.org