Just one chocolate cookie a day can pack 20 extra pounds normal, active child in four years, according to a Spanish study.

It’s the old story: when the number of calories consumed during the day is similar to the amount burned, weight is kept constant, but the number of calories even in a daily cookie can upset the calories consumed/burned balance and tip the scales the wrong way, said study spokesman Emilio Martinez de Victoria Munoz of the University of Granada. For those who want to lose weight, he stressed that a high-fiber diet helps control obesity, because fiber-rich foods take longer to chew and produce the filling sensation more quickly. Such foods also speed intestinal transit time, which slows food absorption and makes weight loss easier.

The research team also said that the reason fad diets fail is because such diets cause the loss of glycogen and water ï¿½?not fat ï¿½?and that’s the reason the lost pounds are regained so quickly.

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