"Eating fruits and veggies does not have any effect on weight loss" Wait....What???

That was the conclusion reached and included in a press release by Kathryn Kaiser, an instructor in the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and quoted in an article By Robert Preidt, HealthDay News, on Thursday, June 26, 2014.  

OK, that is so opposite of the experience of those around me and what I have studied, I had to read the article.  From the article: 

"So I don't think eating more [fruits and vegetables] alone is necessarily an effective approach for weight loss because just adding them on top of whatever foods a person may be eating is not likely to cause weight change," she added.

However, Kaiser and her colleagues also found that eating more fruit does not increase the risk of weight gain.


"It appears that an increase in servings does not increase weight, which is a good thing for getting more vitamins and fiber in one's diet," she said.

So - here's my take from what little was included in the article:  

1) Adding fruits and veggies to what you are already eating without making any other changes will not help you lose weight.  (seems like common sense to me...)

2) Adding fruits and veggies did not increase the risk of weight gain.

Hmmm....so it seems to me that the conclusion should be that if you replace part of what you are already eating with fruits and veggies you will lose weight.  

in my opinion it is irresponsible reporting to slant the article to promote a ridiculous conclusion.  It is more alarming, however, that the press release with these statements was sent by an instructor in the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  Really??  The University is promoting that eating fruits and veggies have no significant effect on weight loss?? It's only a way to add some vitamins and fiber to your diet??  Sheesh.

Here's a link to the article if you want to be amused....

http://www.everydayhealth.com/news/fruits-veggies-not-magic-bullet-weight-loss/?xid=aol_eh-news_19_20140623_&aolcat=HLT&icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl8%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D494506