This chapter includes charts telling you exactly what foods to eat and what foods not to eat. I created these charts using raw data on the composition of foods from the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.268 Of course, the recommendation whether or not to eat a particular food comes from me, not from the USDA!
All other things being equal, I have listed solid food with a caloric density less than 2 and liquids with a caloric density less than 0.4 as helping weight loss. The lower the caloric density, in general, the more a food will promote weight loss—thus eating solid foods with a caloric density less than 1 will cause faster weight loss than solid foods with a caloric density of 2. Liquids have a stricter standard since an equivalent weight of liquids will be less likely to make you feel full than the same weight of solid foods. This is because liquids can pass through the stomach and intestines more quickly than solid foods.
Most of the foods that Americans eat are included in the tables that follow. The easiest thing to do to figure out the caloric density of a food is to just look in the tables that follow. If you would like to calculate the caloric density on your own, it’s not hard though: just divide the calories by the weight in grams.

Caloric density = calories ÷ weight (in grams)

For example, the average peach has 40 calories and weighs 100 grams. It’s easy to calculate
the caloric density:

Caloric density = 40 calories ÷ 100 grams = 0.4

While the caloric density determines whether a food will cause you to gain weight or to lose weight, there are other things to consider in deciding whether a food is healthy or unhealthy. For example, whole eggs have a caloric density of 1.5, and eating whole eggs will help you lose weight. However, whole eggs are loaded with saturated fat and cholesterol and will increase the risk of heart disease: so whole eggs are not a healthy food and not part of the Golden Gate Diet.