Eating Potato Chips Leads to Weight Gain

In one of those "duh" articles, USA Today proclaimed "potato chips worst culprit for weight gain".  On the surface, the study published in today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine begs the question why money was spent on this study.  After all, conventional wisdom states that "calories in equals calories out".  But how do we explain why some Jack Sprats can't gain weight despite eating only fat while their partners can't lose weight despite avoiding fat?  Perhaps it's not so simple & clear cut.

The authors followed 120,877 healthy non-obese men & women for various periods of time from 1986 to 2006.  Weight was assessed every 4 years since we tend to put on excess weight slowly during our middle age.

Weight gain was associated w/potato chips, potatoes, sugar sweetened beverages, unprocessed & processed meats.  Therefore, the old adage to "eat everything in moderation" might not really apply to weight maintenance.  Weight loss was associated with consumption of fruits & veggies, whole grains, nuts & yogurt.  

As expected, lifestyle also impacted weight, eg physical activity, alcohol use, smoking, and television watching.  Sleeping less than 6hrs/night or >8hrs/night was also associated w/more weight gain.

In the end, I'm not convinced that this study presented any new evidence.  We've never recommended eating potato chips, potatoes, sugar sweetened beverages, unprocessed & processed meats, even in moderation.  Likewise, we've always advocated increasing physical activity while limiting television viewing.  It just comes down to applying our knowledge to our daily life.