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Energy density and weight loss: Feel full on fewer calories

Choosing foods that are less concentrated with calories — meaning you get a larger portion size with a fewer number of calories — can help you lose weight and control your hunger.

By Mayo Clinic staff

Feel full on fewer calories? It might sound like another gimmick for weight loss, but it's not. Rather, it's putting the concept of energy density into practice to help with your weight loss. In fact, well planned weight-loss diets, such as The Mayo Clinic Diet, use the concept of energy density to help you lose weight and keep it off long term.

Weight loss with more food, fewer calories

Simply put, energy density is the number of calories (energy) in a specific amount of food. High energy density means that there are a lot of calories in a little food. Low energy density means there are few calories in a lot of food.

When you're striving for weight loss, the goal is to eat low-energy-dense foods. That is, you want to eat a greater volume of food that's lower in calories. This helps you feel fuller on fewer calories. Here's a quick example with raisins and grapes. Raisins have a high energy density — 1 cup of raisins has about 434 calories. Grapes have a low energy density — 1 cup of grapes has about 104 calories.

The keys to energy density and weight loss

Three main factors play a role in what makes food high or low in energy density:

• Water. Many fruits and vegetables are high in water content, which provides volume and weight but not calories. That's why they're low-energy-dense foods. Grapefruit, for example, is about 90 percent water. Half a grapefruit has just 39 calories. Raw, fresh carrots are about 88 percent water. Half a cup has only about 25 calories.
• Fiber. High-fiber foods not only provide volume, but also take longer to digest, making you feel full longer on fewer calories. Classic examples are vegetables, fruits and whole grains.
• Fat. Fat is high in energy density. One teaspoon of butter, for example, contains almost the same number of calories as 2 cups of low-energy-dense raw broccoli. Most fruits and vegetables don't contain a lot of fat. Foods that contain fat naturally, such as dairy products and various meats, or foods with added fats are higher in calories than their leaner or lower fat counterparts.

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• Weight loss: Gain control of emotional eating
• Snacks: How they fit into your weight-loss plan
• The Mayo Clinic Diet: A weight-loss program for life
• Myths about weight loss
• Slide show: Guide to portion control for weight loss
• Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid tool
• Weight management recipes
• Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid: A sample menu
• Fewer calories, healthy food best weight-loss plan
• Weight loss: Better to cut calories or exercise more?
• Questions and answers about the Mayo Clinic Diet
• The Mayo Clinic Diet: Welcome to our new blog

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