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Mushrooms helping the waistline Foods with a low energy density like fruits, vegetables and mushrooms have the ability to fill people up, avoiding an over-consumption of food. The mushroom, one of the lowest energy dense foods around, appears to have an additional benefit for the weight watcher: it has the ability to dampen the appetite, certainly over the short-term. When meat dishes were substituted with button mushrooms, the satiety of the meal was enhanced (Cheskin 2008). Although the mushroom meal was 420 kJ (100 Calories) less than the meat meal, consumers actually ate 1555 fewer kilojoules (370 Calories) each day over four days. This suggests that mushrooms have a powerful ability to increase the satiety of a meal. The same research group is now looking at the effect of mushroom consumption on appetite over 12 months, rather than just days, to see if the effect is sustained. The mushroom is ideally suited for weight control because it is filling, is low in fat, low in kilojoules and low in energy density (Table 3).
Table 3. Energy Density of Example Foods
Source: NUTTAB 2006 |
Nutritional information: 
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