Most people gain weight when they reach middle age, but some manage to remain trim. It may be as simple as eating more vegetables and laying off the sugar. Researchers at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta surveyed nearly 80,000 healthy people when they were 40 to 54 years old, and followed up ten years later. About 50,000 of the participants had gained weight over that time, while 25,000 had kept off the extra pounds. People who ate red meat more than three times a week were more likely to put on weight.
Sugar is another villain in the battle of the bulge.
Many people have been reducing fat in their diets, only to increase their intake of sugar-laden foods. But sugar causes a rapid rise in insulin levels, accelerating the conversion of sugar into body fat. The fattening effect of sugar was recently demonstrated in a study by researchers at Rockefeller University in New York City and the University of California in Berkeley. They found that substituting sugar for fat in the diet encouraged the body to make more fat, while eating a high-fat diet resulted in minimal fat production and accumulation. In a related study, sugary foods, potatoes, white bread and white rice, were all associated with the development of diabetes.