"In simple terms, that means eating foods that contain a lot of water and relatively few calories per portion, such as fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products. What's more, that approach can help you lose more weight than if you don't eat those foods. And if you reduce the energy density of your diet, you actually get to eat more, at least in volume, the study authors said."

""The energy density of food refers to calories per gram," said Barbara Rolls, a professor of nutritional sciences at Pennsylvania State University, and a coauthor of the study."

""Energy density goes from zero to nine," Rolls said, adding that water has zero density while fat, which has 9 calories per gram, has a density of nine."

"Fruits, vegetables, low-fat foods and water-rich foods such as soups all have low energy density, she said."

"The simplified weight loss tip that springs from the study: "Increase the water content of foods you eat and decrease the fat content," Roll said. This premise is the heart of her dietary approach called Volumetrics."

"In the study, Rolls and her colleagues studied the effects of a six-month intervention for diet and weight loss in 658 healthy adults. They included men and women, average age 50. Their average body mass index or BMI, a ratio of height relative to weight, was 33.6 -- defined as obese. "

"One group got a single dietary counseling session; the other two groups each got 18 sessions. The subjects who were counseled were told either to increase physical activity and reduce energy intake or were told that advice, plus advice on a special diet called the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), which emphasizes the consumption of fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy foods."

"All three groups lost weight. But then the researchers wanted to see the exact effect of reducing energy density on weight loss. So they combined all three
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