Did We Lose Weight Summary:
Results from a University of
Calgary, Alberta (Canada)
study showed that using a
plate and cereal bowl marked
with portion sizes helped obese
patients with diabetes lose
weight and reduce their use of
medication to control glucose.
Their conclusion is that portion
control is an effective practice
for anyone wanting to lose
weight.
What does this mean to you? If you want to lose weight, watch your food portions. A meal the size of your fist is a good rule of thumb to keep in watching portion sizes. If you still have a tough time with this, then use portion sizing plates or bowls. We have found portion control diets such as Medifast, Diet-to-Go, Bistro MD, and eDiets to be great options for taking the guesswork out of serving sizes. These products can be very helpful in retraining your awareness of how much food you should be eating per meal.
Dr. Sue D. Pedersen and colleagues
at the University of Calgary,
Alberta, carried out a
randomized controlled trial of
commercially available portion
control plates and bowls in
2004.
They randomly assigned 130 obese
patients of average age 56 with
type 2 diabetes mellitus
(including 55 patients taking
insulin) to one of two groups.
One group used a commercially
available portion control dinner
plate and cereal bowl for 6
months, and the other group had
the usual care (dietary
assessment and teaching by
dieticians).Although portion size is an
important way of controlling
calorie intake, the researchers
said they were not aware of any
randomized contolled studies
that evaluated the effectiveness
of such a method to control
weight loss.
In 1960 only 13 per cent of the
US adult population was obese.
By the year 2000 this figure had
risen to 31 per cent. Type 2
diabetes is often associated
with obesity and restricting
calorie intake has been shown to
reduce weight loss and improve
glycemic control in diabetics.
The authors wrote in the study:
"The increasing prevalence of
obesity is paralleled by
increasing portion sizes in the
marketplace."
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"Portion sizes are an important
determinant of energy intake;
the number of calories ingested
by subjects at a meal has been
directly correlated with the
serving size offered," they
added.
The dinner plates used in the
trial were marked in sections
for carbohydrates, protein,
cheese and sauce, with the rest
left open for vegetables. The
sections added up to an 800
calorie meal for men and a 650
calorie meal for women. The
patients in the intervention
group used the plate for largest
meal of the day.
The cereal bowl allowed a 200
calorie meal of cereal and milk.
The patients in the intervention
group used this plate to measure
out their breakfast portion
every day.
122 patients remained in the
study at the end of the six
month period.
The results showed that:
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16.9 per cent of the patients on portion control lost 5 per cent or more of their body weight over the six months of the study.
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This compares with 4.6 per cent of those in the usual care group.
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Overall, the patients on portion control lost an average of 1.8 per cent of their body weight compared with 0.1 per cent for those who had the usual care.
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More than twice the proportion of patients on portion control required a decrease in their diabetes medication after 6 months compared to the usual care patients (26.2 per cent versus 10.8 per cent).
The study
concluded that: They said the portion control
tool used in the study showed
comparable results to other
studies that used drugs to
induce weight loss. They
suggested that the portion
control method would be
effective for anyone who is
overweight, not just diabetics.
Source: Medical
News Today, Archives of Internal
Medicine, 06-27-07
"Compared with usual care, the
portion control tool studied was
effective in inducing weight
loss. The portion control plate
also enabled patients with
diabetes mellitus to decrease
their hypoglycemic medications
without sacrificing glycemic
control."
Pedersen and colleagues said the
weight loss result was important
because:
"A 5 percent weight loss has
been shown to be clinically
significant in terms of
decreasing morbidity and
mortality associated with
obesity-linked disorders such as
cancer and myocardial infarction
[heart attack]."
"This simple, inexpensive tool
also enabled obese patients with
diabetes mellitus to decrease
their hypoglycemic medication
requirements. This intervention
holds promise for use in
overweight populations with and
without diabetes mellitus," they
wrote.
"Portion Control Plate for
Weight Loss in Obese Patients
With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A
Controlled Clinical Trial."
Sue D. Pedersen, Jian Kang,
Gregory A. Kline.
Arch Intern Med.
2007;167:1277-1283.
Vol. 167 No. 12, June 25, 2007
