If you were told that keeping a list of what you ate and drank would help you lose weight faster, would you do it?

An extensive study conducted by Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research revealed that keeping a food diary helped study participants drop pounds at twice the rate of those who did not log dietary intake. And the more detailed the food diary, the more the pounds disappeared.

In the long-term, two-part study, 1,700 people attended weekly support groups, exercised at low intensity for no less than 30 minutes each day, and followed the DASH diet. DASH, or Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, calls for eating an abundance of fruits and vegetables along with low- or non-fat dairy foods. Participants were also urged to turn in a list of foods and beverages consumed at each weekly meeting of their support groups.

One of the most beneficial aspects of this study is that 44% of the study participants were African American, a percentage that is higher than in most studies of a similar nature. African Americans are at increased risk of developing hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease, especially when they are overweight, too.

At the end of six months, study participants had lost an average of 13 pounds each, with a whopping 69% of them losing at least nine pounds. Of the African-American study participants, the majority of them lost nine pounds or more. Study participants who turned in food diaries lost almost twice as many pounds as study participants who did not keep a food diary, leading researchers to suggest that the simple act of mindfully logging dietary intake encouraged study participants to ingest fewer calories.

Study participants who had achieved a weight loss of nine pounds or more in the first phase of the study were then qualified to enter the second phase, which tested weight-maintenance strategies for a period of 30 months.

Victor Stevens, PhD, one of the co-authors for the study, says losing just five pounds can generate a 20% reduction in the risk of developing hypertension. With more than two-thirds of the American population weighing in at the overweight or obese levels, Stevens says the national rate of hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, and stroke could be dramatically reduced if all Americans carrying excess weight were to lose only nine pounds each.

Food journals have been a part of the weight-loss strategies advocated by the Kaiser Permanente Weight Management Initiative since 2002. The initiative seeks to identify effective treatments for overweight and obesity that are practical and effective without surgery.

Food dairies don’t have to be formal or fussy endeavors. The Kaiser Permanente initiative has proven successful even when food lists are scribbled on napkins, Post-it notes, or whatever is conveniently on hand. Even when food tallies are documented as e-mail or text messages, they increase awareness of our personal eating habits in a way that can change behaviors. The study shows that a weight-loss regimen can be very successful when the right tools, such as a food diary and a support system, are in place.

The August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine with carry the full report on this study.