Thaindian News

London, June 23 (IANS) There is a simple way to stay slim. Eat quality food instead of worrying about the amount of food you eat, say experts.

Consuming bigger amounts of healthier food rather than smaller amounts of poor quality produce is the key, the express.co.uk reported quoting experts Thursday.

Experts at the Harvard School of Public Health in America revealed that small lifestyle changes can make all the difference to ­staying in shape.

They said focusing on calories alone would not keep you slim. Instead, the best way to stay at a healthy weight is to eat nutritious and filling foods of good quality.

They recommend that people watching their weight need to cut out fizzy, sugar-sweetened drinks, potatoes and refined grain foods like white rice and low-fibre breakfast cereals.

And they should eat a lot more “natural” foods, like fruit and vegetables, whole grains, nuts and yoghurt, while avoiding anything processed.

“Small dietary and other lifestyle changes can together make a big difference - for bad or good. This makes it easy to gain weight unintentionally, but also demonstrates the tremendous opportunity for prevention,” the report quoted Dariush Mozaffaria, study co-author as saying.

Nutritionist Angela Dowden said: “This research singles out once again the benefits of minimally processed foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and yoghurt.

“As well as being nutrient-dense they are satiating and their fibrous nature also require slightly more energy to digest.

“It is not so much that calories don’t count - they definitely do - it’s more that a healthy pattern of eating makes it easier for you to feel full on fewer of them.”

The findings, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, also showed the right amount of sleep helped people maintain a healthy weight.