Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 1, 1 January 1989 — ʻAi Pono, E Ola [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ʻAi Pono, E Ola

» By Terry Shintani, M.D.

Eat More And Weigh Less

(How to keep your I New Year's resolution for weight loss): This is not a joke or a I gimmick. Scientific reI search shows that we I ean "eat more and I weigh less". And if you're ,one of the milj lions of people around the country and thousands among the Ha-

waiian community who has made a resoIution to lose weight this year, this article is for you. Why is it important to weigh less and to be at our ideal weight? Of course, the first thing that comes to people's minds is their appearance. Most people want to be slim and trim because they want to be attractive to others. But there are many health benefits to weight loss. Obesity is related to many diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and low back pain. In fact, nahonal statistics show that, in general, those who are not obese live longer. In other words, the more a person weighs over his or her ideal weight, the greater his or her chances of dying prematurely. In earlier issues of Ka Wai Ola O OHA, I pointed out that six of the 10 leading causes of death in America were nutri-tion-related. By weighing less you may reduce your risk of dying from five of those six causes. How do we lose weight on a long term basis? To answer this, ask yourself why is it that today many

Americans are overweight. lt is not necessanly due to a laek of willpower. It is due more to the change in the types of foods we now eat, the laek of exercise, and the body's response to these lifestyle changes. The body has a mechanism for maintaining weight that has been developed over millions of years called the "setpoint". It regulates our hunger and the amount of fat that we burn, even while we are asleep. You don't really need to count calories if you are eating a variety of foods in the appropriate amounts. For most people, though, calories are difficult to count. However, by fo!lowing a few simple principles, weight control ean be mueh easier to hanelle.

One step we ean take is to eat fewer fats and oils and to eat more starchy foods instead. By doing this, we eat a lot fewer calories while eating more food. As I pointed out in a previous article, "starch makes you skinny and fat makes you fat". Part of the reason for this is that fats have roughly 10 times the calorie count per ounee of whole starches such as taro or brown rice. Also, fats and oils tend to change your body's setpoint so you gain weight when you eat more of them. Eating foods high in fiber ean help decrease your calorie intake because they fill up your stomach without calories. What, exactly, is fiber? It is the non-digestible part of grains, fruits and vegetables. There are two kinds of dietary fiber, soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber includes gum and pectin whieh is the

same substance tnat makes your jeiiy jeii. insoiuoie fiber is the substance that makes the structural parts of plants including cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Fiber is not found in animal products. Thus, eating fruit instead of candy, or beans instead of meats, at least sometimes, will help to satisfy your hunger for longer periods because of the calorie-free fiber in these foods whieh fills your stomach. In one study individuāls who ate whole wheat bread consumed fewer calories than individuals who ate white bread as mueh as they wanted. The study concludēd that dietary fiber in whole wheat bread satisfied hunger with fewer calories. Taro, incidentally, is an excellent source of fiber as it contains nearly twice as mueh crude fiber per eup as oats. There are many other simple ways to help you "Eat More and Weigh Less" whieh I will discuss in future articles. Finally, don't forget the pointers I have mentioned in previous articles — have a positive attitude, increase exercise, eat right and share these ideas with others. Sharing these ideas is important because it helps you maintain your healthy lifestyle. Share these ideas with your friends and look for more tips next month.

Dr. Shintani, Director of Preuention Health Seruices at the Waianae Coast Comprehensiue Health Center, is a physician and nutritionist. He is also coordinator of their Malama Ola preuentiue heakh program. A majority of the Center's clients are natiue Hawaiians.