Thinking Weight Loss? Eat Mushrooms!

Eating mushrooms in large quantities can help prevent or treat obesity, says a new study.

According to the study, which was led by Dr. Cheskin, suggests that increasing intake of low-energy density foods, specifically mushrooms, in place of high-energy-density foods, like lean ground beef, is a strategy for preventing or treating obesity.

To reach the conclusions, study participants were randomly chosen to receive either beef or mushroom lunch entrees over four days – lasagna, napoleon, sloppy Joe and chili.

Subjects then switched entrees to consume the other ingredient (mushroom or beef) the following week.1 Energy (calorie) intakes were significantly higher during meat meals than mushroom meals, a difference that averaged 420 more calories and 30 more fat grams per day over the four-day test period.

Subjects' ratings for palatability (meal appeal), appetite, satiation (after meal fullness) and satiety (general fullness) did not differ between groups.

"The most intriguing finding was that subjects seemed to accept mushrooms as a palatable and suitable culinary substitute for meat," said Dr. Cheskin.

"They didn't compensate for the lower calorie mushroom meal by eating more food later in the day,” the researcher added.