A single extra pound may not sound like a lot, but when you consider that the average adult American gains one extra pound per year, it becomes clear why middle-age spread is so insidious and common. By the time you’re 45, you’re likely to be 20 pounds heavier than when you were 25 -- and 40 pounds bulkier by age 65!
Fortunately, middle-age spread is not inevitable and can, in fact, be prevented, according to a new Harvard study. After following 120,877 men and women for 20 years, “we found that small dietary and lifestyle changes together made a big difference -- for bad or good,” says Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, lead author of the study and an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health.
What’s more, Mozaffarian and his team were able to pinpoint the biggest culprits behind gradual, long-term weight gain. “Simply trying to eat ‘everything in moderation’ with a focus only on total calories doesn’t work,” says Mozaffarian. What does?
Limit starches, sugary drinks, red meat and processed meats
In the study, the foods associated with the greatest weight gain were:
Potatoes (in any form, but especially potato chips and French fries)
Sugar-sweetened beverages
Red meat
Processed meats, such as bacon, hot dogs, deli meats, etc.
“Potato intake should be moderated, but focusing on potatoes alone misses the larger point about overall carbohydrate quality,” adds Mozaffarian. “Starches (like potatoes) and refined carbohydrates (such as white bread, white rice, low-fiber breakfast cereal and many packaged and processed foods) may have similar -- if not identical --metabolic effects,” he explains. Eating these foods produces the same bursts in blood glucose and insulin levels as eating refined sugar. These bursts in glucose and insulin increase hunger and, hence, the total amount of food (and calories) consumed at the next meal.