Low-fat diet best for losing weight: Study
When it comes to slimming down, a diet low in fat seems to beat a diet low in carbohydrates for body fat loss, new research suggests. The finding stems from a small U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) investigation that tracked each approach to weight loss among 19 obese adults.
These results counter the claims of the popular theory that has been influencing many people to adopt low-carb diets, said study lead author Kevin Hall, a senior investigator with the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in Bethesda, Md.
That theory focuses on the notion that carb-cutting triggers a decrease in insulin levels, while cutting fat does not. The hormonal plunge should, in turn, boost fat-burning and increase fat loss, he explained.
[But] while all of these things happened during the reduced carbohydrate diet, Hall added, the reduced fat diet also led to loss of body fat and at a greater rate than the reduced carb diet, despite being equal in calories and having no observable effect on insulin production.
The study was published Aug. 13 in Cell Metabolism.
The 10 men and nine women who participated in the study had an average body mass index (BMI) of nearly 36. BMI is a rough estimate of a persons body fat based on their height and weight. A BMI of 30 or more indicates obesity, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While residing in the NIH Clinical Centers metabolic unit, the study volunteers participated in a two-week low-fat diet, followed by a two-week low-carb diet.
The researchers found that the low-carbohydrate diet led to a loss of 53 grams of body fat daily. The low-fat diet prompted a body fat loss of 89 grams daily. During the short-term study, people on the low-carb arm lost slightly more weight than those on the low-fat diet -- about 4 pounds versus 3 pounds. This could be due to differences in the amount of water lost, researchers said.
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