Rosalee Brown - DIETITIAN'S DESK

Have you ever been to a buffet? What do you do? Do you put a 'little' of everything on your plate, but when you are through it turns out to be a lot of food? This is strike one against diet variety for some experts. It is said that persons tend to consume more with increasing variety and this can lead to weight gain and even prevent weight loss and maintenance.

The 'buffet behaviour' is seen in the home setting as well. If, for example, you prepare several different types of ground provision, you will eat a 'little' of each - dumpling, yam, banana, dasheen, and if there is something else, you will take just a little piece.

Many dieters are familiar with the diet variety phenomenon and will subject themselves to monotony in order to lose weight and not sabotage their plan.

So you will have persons having boiled chicken and brown rice with water for a month until their appetite screams at them and then they go back to variety and weight gain.

Eat more staples

Experts have written about this and a study in Obesity Research 2005 has reiterated that variety can be a problem. They looked at data from the weight-loss directory in the United States of America and found that more than 2,200 persons who had successful weight loss, of an average of over 70 pounds, had kept approximately 30 pounds off for six years. These individuals were compared to another group of 97 individuals in a behaviour change group who lost approximately seven per cent of their body weight.

The researchers found that the registry group had less variety in their diet, especially from the higher calorie variety of foods. The researcher said that the successful weight loss participants ate more from the staple group and fewer foods from the tip of the American pyramid which include those higher calorie or more energy-dense foods.

They concluded that those who were successful had less variety but more nutrient-rich and low-fat foods. They also contend that their diets could also become boring.

Benefits of variety

Apart from nutrients, different foods provide unique ingredients such as flavour, texture, colour and phytonutrients which promote health and combat diseases and, when expertly combined in a sensible diet, a synergistic positive effect on health promotion.

Add variety successfully

Have variety throughout the day and week. Don't try to have it all at one meal. Planning is crucial. How many of us really plan our meals for the week, even mentally? We go to the supermarket and, like robots, pick up the same variety and amounts, the same at the green grocery, et cetera. You then end up with a large amount of food, often in the same food groups, you cannot afford for them to spoil (food is so expensive), so you prepare and eat them.

Think food groups. Maybe this week for staple, we will have sweet potatoes, dasheen and rice; from the legumes we will have some red and black beans; from vegetables we will have a larger variety and colour. Do the same for fruits and reduce variety for the high-fat and sugary foods.

Change the variety each time you shop. Now plan different daily meals, for example, boiled /baked sweet potato, steamed greens, baked chicken, raw rainbow salad and a fruit. Choose different varieties from the food groups for each meal, so you have variety, less chance of overeating and the health potential of all foods.