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Last updated on July 15th, 2024 at 05:47 pm
Volume eating or high volume eating is the dietary regimen that encourages large quantities of low calorie foods. This type of eating is often used as a method for weight loss. The idea behind volume eating is that you maximize the volume of food you consume while minimizing the caloric intake.
Increasing your intake of high volume low calorie foods plays on the notion that if your calories out exceeds your calories in you will lose weight.
However, there is more than what you see on the surface when it comes to a high volume diet. This article digs into what volume eating is, some of the most common food types, and risks associated with this type of diet.
What Does High Volume Eating Mean
If you are volume eating this means you are eating large quantities of foods with low calories and small amounts of foods with high calories. Sometimes we call this a high nutrient dense diet.
Eating according to volume suggests that:
- Eating large quantities of low calorie foods will keep you full by taking up space in your belly
- Naturally low calorie foods often have more dietary fiber which can help keep you full
- The amount of food on your plate is not correlated with a specific calorie number
- A plate that has more food on it can help to mentally satisfy your hunger
The idea behind increasing high volume foods is that you can eat less and lose weight by reducing your overall calorie intake without decreasing the quantity of food you eat.
Volume Eating Food List
All food consists of one or more macronutrient groups. The three macronutrients are carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
Fats have 9 calories per gram of food while proteins and carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram.
As you can see, fats have more calories per volume than other macronutrients. Thus, most foods on the high volume food list will be proteins or carbohydrates.
High Volume Foods Include:
- Leafy greens
- Cruciferous veggies
- Chicken
- Fish
- Peppers
- Tofu
- Whole grain pasta
- Whole grain breads
- Whole grain rice
- Oatmeal
- Fruit
- Nut milks
- Low fat milk
- Beans
- Legumes
- Chia seeds
Health Benefits of Volume Eating
Some health benefits of high nutrient dense foods include:
- Exposure to new food choices
- Increased fiber intake
- Increased vitamin and mineral intake for some
- Mental satisfaction of having a full plate of food
The health benefits of volume eating ONLY happen if you are not restricting your calories while adding in high nutrient density foods. If you are not eating enough while following this type of eating plan, nutrient absorption is likely to be impaired.
You also must make sure you are adequately hydrating.
Does Volume Eating Help You Lose Weight
It depends.
The idea behind volume eating is that weight loss occurs because you are eating less overall calories throughout the day. Volume eating is a perfect example of a wellness diet.
While sometimes eating an abundance of high nutrient dense foods can result in weight loss short term, like all other diets it likely to result in weight loss rebound.
Some reasons volume eating may not result in weight loss include:
- Your overall calories are too low
- Your body is already at its set point weight
- You’ve spent your life chronic dieting which slows the metabolism and will not result in weight loss
If you are completely restricting foods you would normally enjoy like cookies, cakes or comfort foods like pizza because they are calorie dense, your body will start to create physiological responses to this emotional hunger which could lead to a binge.
Your body is also unlikely to be deceived if you are eating less calories than it is used to. This means even if you are consuming a larger portion of food than you are used to, your body will still probably crave higher calorie foods in order to meet its needs.
Risks of High Volume Eating
Vitamin and Mineral Deficiencies
High Volume foods are often a great source of vitamins and minerals. However, when you focus only on these types of foods and restrict other foods, you can end up with nutrition deficiencies.
Some nutrient deficiencies common with volume eating include:
- B12 deficiencies (because of restricting red meats)
- Low essential fatty acids in the diet
- Vitamin D deficiency (because fat is required to absorb fat soluble vitamins)
GI Distress
GI distress with high volume foods can include:
- Bloating
- Constipation
- Diarrhea
- Nausea
Inadequate Calorie Intake
Sometimes if you are following a high nutrient density diet you could end up deficient in calories. While diet culture has probably led you to believe this is a good thing, it’s not.
Here are some side effects from not eating enough because of high volume foods:
- Weight gain
- Slowed metabolism
- Poor sports performance
- Delayed healing
- Poor immune system
- Muscle wasting
Food Restriction and Eating Disorders
Any time food restriction is in place there is a risk for disordered eating or eating disorders. Diets have a high correlation with eating disorders. If you find yourself becoming obsessive about food with high volume eating, it might be time to talk to an eating disorder specialist.
Signs of an eating disorder may include:
- Compulsive exercise
- Gastroparesis (delayed gastric emptying)
- Hair loss
- Laxative or diet pill use
Is Volume Eating Sustainable
No. A sustainable diet will include a wide variety of foods including but not limited to high volume foods. As with most diets, trying to eliminate or significantly reduce calorie dense (low volume high calorie foods) for a long period of time is unlikely.
Eating only high volume foods is not sustainable because:
- It’s expensive
- It doesn’t leave room for us to honor our emotional hunger
- It’s restrictive
- It makes it difficult to eat in social settings
- It doesn’t allow for ethnic food diversity
- It can be time consuming
Alternatives to a High Volume Diet
There are many alternatives to eating exclusively high volume foods that will help you sustain healthy eating habits and preserve your metabolism.
Some alternatives to volume eating include:
- Intuitive eating
- Practicing food neutrality
- Challenging fear foods and eliminating food rules
While eating exclusively nutrient dense foods might sound appealing, it often causes more harm than good. If you are pursuing weight loss as a result of eating high volume foods, the long term negative impacts far outweigh the good.
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