Its a common predicament: Diet, and youll successfully lose weight, but as soon as you stop, the scale starts ticking upward once again.
A new study addresses the problem of weight loss in the long-term, looking at participants total weight loss four years after they stopped one of three popular diets.
The winner? The Mediterranean diet, with its adherents losing more weight than those who ate low-carb or low-fat diets.
For the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, scientists randomly selected 322 moderately obese participants for one of three weight loss plans in a workplace study.
The dieters were given choices of diet. Those on the low-fat diet consumed grains, vegetables and fruits and limited their consumption of fats and sweets. Low carbohydrate diet participants followed the Atkins diet but had no restriction on caloric intake.
Mediterranean diets were rich in vegetables and low in red meat, with poultry and fish replacing beef and lamb.
The initial study was carried out between July 2005 and June 2007 was completed after two years. Researchers followed up after another four years.
After six years the total weight loss was 3.1 kg (6.8 pounds) in the Mediterranean group, followed by 1.7 kg (3.7 pounds) in the low carbohydrate group, and 0.6 kg (1.3 pounds) in the low fat group.
The weight loss was significant for the Mediterranean group and the low-carbohydrate group but not for the low fat group, concluded study authors Dan Schwarzfuchs of the Nuclear Research Centre Negev, and Rachel Golan of Ben Gurion University of the Negev.
In an interview with the Star, Dr. Schwarzfuchs said when undertaking a diet it was important to take into consideration personal food preferences and health.
Link:
Mediterranean diet best for lasting weight loss, low-carb also works: Study
