The Verdict is In: Counting Calories is What Counts

It seems not a day goes by that news of a new diet comes across my computer. I don't want to pat myself on the back of course but I have always said these diets all boil down to one thing - calories.

Now scientists who studied low fat, high protein or low carbohydrate diets say that the kind of diet doesn't matter. This federal study followed people for two years. Cutting calories was the most important; however, the only way cutting calories can work is if people don't get tired of it and stop.

I have tried and read about low carb diets. Atkins, for example works but after a couple of weeks if you read the book it says that if you are not losing weight then you may have to look at how much bacon and how many eggs you are eating.

Eating fewer calories works and if you burn some of the calories you are eating through exercise you'll lose even more weight.

The study, which appears in today's New England Journal of Medicine, was led by Harvard School of Public Health and Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana.

The study had over 800 overweight adults in four diets. No particular diet was studied by name, i.e. it wasn't a Weight Watchers versus The Zone versus Atkins versus the Banana diet. The diets all had healthy fats. They were all were high in whole grains, fruits and vegetables. They were all low in cholesterol.

Most of the people in the study were women who were asked to cut 750 calories a day from their diets. They also were asked to exercise for 1 ½ hours a week, keep an online food diary (which is crucial according to everything I have read) and meet with diet. Weight loss and inches off the participants' waists were about the same among the groups. .In six months people lost about 13 pounds but all the groups no matter what "plan" they were on gained in back and after two years the weight loss was about 9 pounds. Seeing the counselors when they were supposed to resulted in a better outcome. It is thought that when people count calories they can eat whatever they want rather that restricting food groups. That is why I think Weight Watchers works which although it is a point method the bottom line in my opinion is that rather than counting calories you are counting points, encouraged to exercise, keep a journal, and see a counselor to weigh in and go to a group.

Source

NEJM
AP