Reduced Calorie Diets Lead to Weight Loss
Study Finds Carbohydrate, Protein or Fat Content Doesn’t Matter
Mar 4, 2009
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health commissioned the study, Preventing Overweight Using Novel Dietary Strategies. It found similar weight loss after six months and two years among participants assigned to four diets that differed in fat, carbohydrates and proteins. All the diets used the same calorie reduction goals and were heart-healthy, said Frank Sacks, professor of cardiovascular disease prevention at Harvard School of Public Health.
Participants lost 13 pounds after six months of dieting and maintained a nine-pound loss at two years. Their waistlines also dropped by one to three inches by the end of the study, the researchers said.
A Cross-section of Society Studied
The dieters were diverse in age, sex, geography and income. Of the participants, 62 percent were women and 38 percent were men. They ate foods with unsaturated fat and were high in whole cereal grains, fruits and vegetables. Each person was asked to reduce his calorie intake by 750 calories but were told to keep it around 1,200 calories per day. They exercised 90 minutes every week and recorded daily food and drink intake in a food diary and in a Web-based program that analyzed how closely they met their dieting goals.
In addition to the weight loss, the study recorded an improvement for the risk factors of cardiovascular disease at six months and two years in ways consistent with previous findings. All of the diets decreased the presence of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of related conditions, overweight, high triglycerides, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and low HDL cholesterol.
Types of diets included
- 20 percent fat, 15 percent protein, 65 percent carbohydrate
- 20 percent fat, 25 percent protein, 55 percent carbohydrate
- 40 percent fat, 15 percent protein, 45 percent carbohydrate
- 40 percent fat, 25 percent protein, 35 percent carbohydrate
NIH has put menus it used during the study on its Web site for those who want to reduce their calorie intake.
In another way to help people get healthier, MDVIP Inc. recommended 10 things patients should tell their primary care doctor. Informing your doctor about these things could help diagnose a problem.
- Doctors need to know all the over-the-counter medications patients take. They can cause serious side effects when taken with prescription medications.
- Physicians can better diagnose a problem if they know all the ailments bothering patients.
- Sleep habits can help a doctor understand illnesses. Many stem from a lack of sleep or too much stress.
- Primary care doctors can pinpoint the reasons behind depression, but too often, they don’t know about a patient’s condition.
- Sexual habits can be directly related to a number of diseases.
- Problems at the office also might signal or trigger many diseases.
- Physicians can help patients be happier and healthier if they know about personal life stresses.
- The same goes for financial stress.
- Fatigue is a symptom of many problems. Doctors will need more information to get to the heart of the matter.
- How patients spend their free time can be cause for alarm or a reason to celebrate.
With a proper diet and proper information, people can become healthier, the studies concluded.
