Harvard Study Identifies Top 10 Foods that Promote Weight Gain and Loss

The most important factor to long term weight gain is diet, according to new research in the The New England Journal of Medicine.  That may seem like a no-brainer, but that’s not all there is to it.

Harvard researchers studied 120,877 people to discover how small changes in lifestyle behaviors such as physical activity, sleep duration, and TV-watching are strongly correlated with long-term weight gain. They found the most important factor was diet—but what’s most intriguing is how much weight gain (or loss) was attributed to consuming just one additional serving a day of certain foods!

So what are these foods that have such an impact on weight gain and weight loss?

Here are the top 10 …5 foods that promote weight gain and 5 that promote weight loss!

Top 5 Foods that Promote Weight Gain:

5. Processed Meats

4. Unprocessed Red Meat

3. Sugar-Sweetened Beverages

2. Potatoes

1. Potato Chips

Top 5 Foods that Promote Weight Loss:

5. Yogurt

4. Nuts

3. Fruit

2. Whole Grains (Carbs are not the enemy after all!)

1. Vegetables

“The idea that there are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ foods is a myth that needs to be debunked, ” says Co-author Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. We still think it’s okay to eat the “bad foods” in moderation; every once in a while a girl just needs a hot dog! At least chocolate isn’t on the list!

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