UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa (WTAJ) – Each year, the Volumetrics plan has consistently been recommended when people have looked to U.S. News & World Report rankings for advice on diets to improve their health or manage their weight.

The plan, developed by Barbara Rolls, Helen A. Guthrie Chair in Nutrition at Penn State, recommends consuming foods that are low in calorie density so that people eat a volume of food that satisfies their hunger without consuming more calories than their body needs.

This year, Volumetrics is ranked as a top-10 diet in 10 categories, including best overall, best weight loss diets, best fast weight-loss diets, easiest to follow, best for healthy eating, best for diabetes, best heart-healthy diets, best for bone and joint health, best family-friendly diets, and best plant-based diets.

The principles and process of Volumetrics have been defined over the course of three books and many scientific publications, but in 2023, Volumetrics will also be adapted into a six-part webinar series by Penn State Extension. “The Volumetrics Weigh of Life: Weight Management Plan” presents fundamental weight management principles and emphasize sustainable eating patterns for lifelong weight management.

Each of the six classes will provide calorie density lessons, food demonstration videos, examples of Volumetrics food choices and interactive learning opportunities through small group discussions.

“Over the years, Penn State Extension has offered weight-management services, and they thought the ideas in the Volumetrics books would be useful to the general public,” Rolls said. “I`m just so excited that more people will learn the fundamentals of building a healthy diet.”

Rolls, also director of the Laboratory for the Study of Human Ingestive Behavior in the College of Health and Human Development at Penn State, said the goal of her program is to help people sustain healthy weight over a lifetime. She stresses there are no “quick fixes” or miracle diets; weight loss and healthy eating are lifetime commitments.

“You are eating not just for weight management but for lifelong health.”

Barbara Rolls, Helen A. Guthrie Chair in Nutrition at Penn State

“Fundamentally, it is not a competition of which diet is the best,” Rolls said. “It is about understanding the principles of why we eat what we eat and why we overeat, and Volumetrics offers those insights. You need to find an eating plan that you enjoy and that you are going to sustain. You are eating not just for weight management but for life-long health.”

Rolls encourages anyone who is interested in healthier eating to begin by reflecting on potential changes in their current diet, though not in a restrictive way.