Study Compares Low Carb and Low Fat

The Problems with this Study . . .

The internet is abuzz with the results of a new study—a study which supposedly compared the effectiveness of low carb vs. low fat diets (you can read the original publication here).

Here is a quote from yahoo:

The kind of diet doesn't matter, scientists say. All that really counts is cutting calories and sticking with it . . .

I’ve seen several bloggers regurgitating statements like the one above.

Granted, there is some truth here--weight loss is ultimately a result of a negative calorie balance (there’s a news flash). But I would caution anyone from reading too much into this study. I didn’t find it helpful at all. Here’s why:

1. Participants were obese (or close to it). Their results cannot necessarily be applied to those who only need to lose modest amounts of weight (10-20 lb). The leaner one gets, the harder it becomes to lose additional bodyfat.

2. The study only measured weight loss, not bodyfat levels. In other words, we don’t know how much of the weight loss was fat vs muscle. Generally speaking, you don’t want to lose muscle mass—this decreases your metabolism. It would have been very helpful to know which diet produced more fat loss.

3. Most of the participants did not achieve impressive results. The average subject lost about 13 pounds over six months (some of which was gained back). This means most of them didn’t even manage to lose a pound a week (which would be a realistic, safe weight loss goal). Only 15% of the dieters lost a significant amount of weight. In other words, this study showed us neither diet works when poorly executed.

This also makes “craving, fullness, and hunger and diet-satisfaction scores” rather meaningless. Since the diets were not followed, how do we know which one really produces less cravings, etc?

A few more thoughts:

*I personally prefer low-carb approaches to fat loss (see my article called: Confessions of a Low-Carb Dieter).

*Diet is only half of the equation. Subjects were apparently encouraged to do “90 minutes of moderate exercise per week.” If that’s the only instruction they received on exercise, I’m not surprised they didn’t achieve their goals.

*Diets are not the long-term answer—a lifestyle change is. Most of us (yours truly included) have to diet on occasion to drop a few pounds of fat (the result of too many visits to pizza hut). But the goal is to have a lifestyle that keeps you close to your ideal weight (or bodyfat level).

I don’t want to sound unsympathetic towards those who struggle with their weight. I was a bit chunky as a kid, and I know weight loss/fat loss is not easy. But I simply don’t find much helpful information in this study.  

If you really want helpful diet information, find success stories and learn how they did it.