Low-fat diets no more effective than higher-fat diets, researchers say
Deirdre Tobias, Sc.D., an associate epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues looked at 53 published studies involving 68,128 adults. The low-fat diets in the studies ranged from very low-fat, 10 percent or less of calories from fat, to more moderate plans that allowed 30 percent or less of calories from fat.
Participants on low-fat diets did lose weight. But, those on low-carbohydrate diets were slightly more than 2 pounds lighter than those on low-fat diets after a follow-up of at least one year. The average weight loss across all groups was 6 pounds, the researchers found.
“We found that low-fat diets were not more effective than higher-fat diets for long-term weight loss,” Tobias toldHealthDay. The key to success seems to have more to do with adherence than a specific weight-loss plan. “Being able to stick to a diet in the long term will probably predict whether or not a diet is successful for weight loss,” Tobias said.