Study: Calorie Intake, not Food Choice, Key to Weight Loss

A new study published by The New England Journal of Medicine shows that weight loss depends more on consuming fewer calories than the type of foods the dieter avoids. It doesn't matter if a diet is low in carbohydrates, protein or fat as long the calorie count falls to a certain level.

The researchers followed more than 800 dieting adults in Boston and Baton Rouge who were divided into 4 different groups with each group given varying combinations of fat, carbohydrates and protein. What the researchers from the US National Institute of Health found is that all the diets which reduced the caloric intake to no less than 1200 calories a day all brought similar results.

The dieters lost 13 pounds on average and kept at least 9 pounds off for the next two years the study followed the participants. The dieters were also offered counseling, but were not encouraged to exercise more than 90 minutes a week as the focus of the study was the affects of the diets by themselves.

Dieters who wish for similar results should especially note the weight loss was achieved on a diet that did not go below 1200 calories. Men will typically see weight loss success by lowering their intake to 2000 calories, while women should not eat less than 1200 calories for weight loss.

According to earlier studies such as the one published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition eating less than 800 calories will result in an adverse reaction as the body goes into a "starvation mode" at this low level of caloric intake. This causes the metabolism to slow down resulting in slower weight loss and over time the body will begin to break down muscle tissue for energy. After a diet of 800 calories or less the body will begin to store all excess calories as fat which can start a "yo-yo" dieting cycle.

Sources: http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/citation/45/5/1126; http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/360/9/859