Compared with not dieting at all, avoiding fat resulted in 5.4 kilograms being shed after a year, while low-carbohydrate diets added another 1.15 kg of weight loss.
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Analysis of 53 studies involving 68,128 adults showed no difference in the average weight loss between reduced-fat diets and higher-fat diets. Tobias, however, added that their robust evidence clearly suggested otherwise.
After all the hype about low-fat diets, researchers have discovered something that could change the way people think about their weight loss strategies: low-fat diets are not more effective than higher-fat diets with the same amount of calories in keeping the pounds off.
Low-fat diets do not lead to greater weight loss in the long term compared to low-carbohydrate or Mediterranean diets of similar intensity, according to a major new study.
The researchers focused on the efficiency of low-fat diet in helping in weight loss as compared to other types of diet over “minimum duration” of one year.
“What seems to be clear is that long-term diet adherence is abysmal, irrespective of whether low-fat or other diets… are prescribed”, wrote Kevin Hall of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in Maryland, United States.
Adopting a low-fat diet and fore-going guilty pleasures such as crisps and fry-ups may not be the best way to slim, a study has found.
Dietary fat has always been targeted, said the study, for the reason that every gram (0.04 ounce) of it contains more then double the calories of a gram of carbohydrates or protein.
Diets that cut out fat were actually slightly less effective than those based on lowering carbohydrate consumption, the researchers reported in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology medical journal. “The focus needs to shift away from specific nutrients – carbs and fats – to a discussion of healthy foods and eating patterns”.
It has been widely believed that a low-fat diet is an effective way to lose weight.
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“To effectively address the obesity epidemic, we will need more research to identify better approaches for long-term weight loss and weight maintenance, including the need to look beyond differences in macronutrient composition – the proportion of calories that come from fat, carbohydrate, and protein”, Dr. Tobias explained in the report. “Therefore, weight loss diets should be tailored to cultural and food preferences and health conditions of the individual and should also consider long-term health consequences of the diets”.
