Agree or disagree: Overeating healthy food DOES NOT lead to weight gain.

http://www.truthaboutabs.com/overeating-weigh t-gain-or-loss.html

A guy who conducted this experiment said he DID NOT gain any weight after consuming just healthy foods for 6 weeks. His workout routine remained the same but he didn't count calories. His theory was that if you eat the right types of highly nutrient-dense foods and do not stray from those foods at all, that your body will automatically re-balance itself (your hormones, appetite levels, etc, etc)... and even though you are attempting to over-eat, as long as the nutrient-density of all of your meals is maximized, total calorie balance will inevitably end up at a level where I would not gain weight.

Anyone had any experience to prove or disprove his theory?

I don't think it worked for the reason he thinks.
If he works out vigorously, I'm sure he burns over 2000 calories a day. That happens to be close to what I burn, and I can tell you, it's really hard to go over that only eating non-processed food. Proteins and natural fats are very filling and stave of one's appetite for longer. They are hard to overeat much on. And when it comes to raw veggies... I huge 300 cal salad can make you feel like you've stuffed yourself. I made a vegetable chili last night, ate enough of it to feel gluttonous, cheese on top and all, and the whole thing was like 400 calories.

My point: It's not some strange hormone magic, he ate his maintenence calorie level.

Though I suppose it might be possible that the body is more likely to send signals to control the calorie in/calorie out balance if most foods are nutrient rich and healthy.

It does make sense that your body has all the nutrients it needs so you don't suffer from cravings trying to get more nutrients leading to eating even more.

He doesn't give how many calories he ate though or a day's meal plan so without that you don't know how much he was actually eating.

I think it would be interesting for a less active person to try it though, someone who maybe goes to the gym a couple of times a week, walks reasonably regularly and maybe does a bit of weight training. That person would obviously burn less, and would probably have less muscle so would burn less whilst inactive as well.

At the end of the day, weight loss/gain aside, eating only whole, natural, unprocessed foods is obviously a wise move for your health. You probably would have less cravings leading to binges or overeating so if this was combined with calorie counting it would be the best and most productive way to lose weight.

You could lose weight eating one Big Mac per day ad nothing else but it's not sustainable and would make you extremely malnourished if kept up for any length of time.

He can not make his point without counting calories or disclosing what he really ate.  It is a pointless experiment without data to back up the claim. 

Minda, I eat very healthy food and can easily go over 2000 calories.

Anyway, I agree pretty much with what everyone else has said. We have no idea how much he was actually eating. However, perhaps the point of this article is that you can eat "more" volume (not actually more calories) while maintaining a healthy diet. I know a month or two ago when I was full swing in my triathlon training, I ate whatever I want and probably ate 3000 calories a day. I lost weight on this, but I was also burning an insane amount of calories each day.

Overeating anything, even veggies and healthier fare, will cause weight gain if it's a sustained habit. The thing is, that it's really hard to do it-veggies are bulky in the stomach and make you feel very full for very few calories. You'd have to eat a gut-splitting amount of vegetables to reach the calorie levels that would make you gain.

You would probably also turn orange or something, which has apparently happened to people who ate too many carrots.

Original Post by chocorific:

You would probably also turn orange or something, which has apparently happened to people who ate too many carrots.

More like a yellowish tint. Thank goodness for the summer sun.

I agree that it`s hard to eat over 2000 cals of unprocessed food, but just as long as you are eating according to your hunger signals. If you are constantly snacking because of stress/boredom/whatever, and have a soft spot for calorie dense foods (nuts, cheese etc.), it makes perfect sense that the number on the scale would slowly creep up.

I do know that the "better" my food choices, that more satisfied I am for a given amount of calories, so it would be hard for me to "overeat" on nothing but healthy foods.

I also see that he includes all refined grains (like pasta) in his "unhealthy" food choices.  I don't think I could live without the occasional spaghetti or baguette or white rice "treat", and am willing to count calories to be able to squeeze them in (along with an occasional glass of wine).

I often see posts from obese/overweight people who struggle to reach the recommended calorie target, and used to be amazed.  I mean, how did they get overweight without being able to eat more than 1200 (or 1500, or whatever) calories per day?  Then I realized that they had not only changed how much they were eating, but also what they were eating.  Giving up sweets, junk food, whatever, made it hard to eat "enough" healthy calories.  (Unfortunately, I never have a problem getting to my target calories, but I also never had an addiction to junk food.)

by my definition, "overeating" means eating too much to maintain a healthy weight.  if you don't gain weight (or maintain a weight that is too high), then you're not overeating.

The quality of food you eat definitely plays a LARGE role in whether or not you gain weight. I have read many studies testing people who eat a diet full of not so healthy food (calories amounting to about 1500) and then people who eat a diet full of fiber, lean protein & healthy fat (calories amounting to about 2000) - no exercise involved - and the people eating the healthy diet full of fiber, lean protein & healthy fat lost more weight than the group of not so healthy eaters... I definitely stand by this study too because I tend to over eat healthy foods (on a daily basis - yes, my portion sizes are very distorted! ha ha)... but I tend to be stable at my happy weight which is exactly what I want... I do exercise every day from anywhere between 90 to 120 minutes a day which could help tremendously... but I really do think eating a lot of healthy foods is also part of the equation... Well that's my take on it.

absolutely disagree, overating on any kind of food will lead to weight gain. too many calories is just too many calories it doesnt magically disappear because it has yummy good for your nutrients in it

Original Post by madamq:

He can not make his point without counting calories or disclosing what he really ate.  It is a pointless experiment without data to back up the claim. 

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In a roundabout way, I believe the results of this dude's experiment, but perhaps not in the way that some of you think he means..if that makes any sense.   I think that if you eat natural, healthy foods, your appetite is controlled naturally, which helps to prevent you from overeating, and if you do eat a more natural diet, it's hard to overeat to begin with.  Once you get away from fats and nuts and a handful of other things that are high calorie, most healthy foods are relatively low in calories.  You can eat lots of vegetables for example, pounds and bowl fulls of them, before you get to the calories in one Big Mac Combo.  Pound for pound you can eat a lot more beans and grains for protein than you can meat. 

It's also true that if you eat lots of fibre it's very filling, controlling appetite, and also absorbs some fat in the intestines, sliding it through your body undigested, as much as 150 calories per day, or so I've read.  And, fibre calories are free calories, because they are not absorbed or used by the body, but passed through the intestines undigested.  So if you ate 40 grams of fibre per day and it took 150 calories of fat with it, that would be 300 calories per day you could eat, that passed through you undigested, allowing you to eat more, but not gain weight. 

Three words.... 'Henry The Eighth'.... http://home.comcast.net/~kenconway/images/hen ry.jpg  A man who lived 500 years ago when the only foods available were natural ones and obesity was very much the perogative of the wealthy.

Conclusion.... it is possible to overeat and gain weight on a totally natural diet.

Of course it's possible to gain weight eating naturally, I think the more positive aspect of this position would be that it's much more likely that you will not gain weight by eating both naturally and smart.  Of course "meat" is natural, I doubt this fella is advocating eating large amounts of meat as part of a healthy diet. 

Calories are calories!! If you eat too much tofu+ whole grains + healthy fats + healthy fruits + raw honey + organic maple syrup and the calories add up to 3500 too many calories, then you gain one pound!! Just the same as if you had eaten too much cake, ice cream and candy--or McDonald's or chips and dip. Calories are calories. Your over all health will be better if you for go the junk and opt for raw veggies and fruit and fish instead of Big Mac, fries and coke. However, I know a lot of thin people who eat most of the calories each and every day on in junk food. And, I know some obese vegetarians. Weight management has to be the balance between calories and activity. Good health is determined by LIFE CHOICES--right foods, appropriate exercise, clean air, clean water, recreation to balance work, rest, sleep, etc result into a balanced life style that is appropriate for the person as an individual.

Just speaking for myself:  I grow much of my food, some gets frozen or canned, I make yogurt & cheese, the rest of my food is organic & mostly locally produced & generally fresh, whole & unprocessed.  I cook from scratch, I don't eat any junk food, rarely even go out to eat, eat very little meat, fish (all lean), cheese & eggs. But if I eat as much as I want, I gain weight.  If my back condition allowed me to exercise as much as I should, maybe I wouldn't gain the weight, even so, I am more muscular than most (growing food is not sedentary!), but I keep having to return to counting calories & controlling portions. 

I have heard the idea that eating correctly (the way I have eaten for my whole life) would free me from having to watch what I eat; I dearly wish this were so...