People who flit between diets in the hope that the next one will finally make the pounds drop off are wasting their time. It does not matter which one you pick, as long as you stick to it, according to a new study.
Researchers studied a range of popular branded diets, including Atkins, Weight Watchers, Rosemary Conley and Slimming World.
They found “weight-loss differences between diets were small, with little differences of clinical importance for those seeking weight loss”, concluding that an ideal diet was “one that is best adhered to by individuals so that they can stay on [it] as long as possible”.
Diets with behavioural support, such as counselling or attending groups, and exercise did score more highly, the scientists found. The study was published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It involved an analysis of 48 random clinical trials of branded diets, including 7,200 overweight and obese adults. The research team assessed weight loss at six and 12 months.
At the six-month follow-up, people on low-carbohydrate diets, such as Atkins, lost 19 more pounds than those not on a diet, while those on low-fat diets, such as Rosemary Conley’s, lost 17 more pounds. After 12 months there was no difference between the two diets.
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Geoff Ball, an obesity expert at the University of Alberta who was involved in the study, said: “Given the popularity of these diets around the world, there has been a real lack of research to examine their relative benefits. Overall, the differences between the different diets regarding their impact on weight loss were relatively small.”
Tam Fry, of the national obesity forum, said that the only method he recommended was eating a balanced diet of healthy, unprocessed food in combination with exercise.
He said: “People think a specific diet will help them. It may, for a short period of time, but chances are when they come off it they will put the weight on again. Then they start another diet, they diet-hop. It is a self-perpetuating system.”
James Stubbs, a Slimming World research specialist, said: “Any diet that results in people consuming less energy than they expend will be successful in the short term. But if they’re going to get long-term results, people need something they can stick to.
“The findings of this report demonstrate the importance of behaviour change support in helping people who struggle with their weight to develop new healthy eating habits which, along with becoming more active, increases their chances of long-term weight loss maintenance.”
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Bradley Johnston of McMaster University, lead author on the study, said: “We wanted to be the first to compare, in an evidence-based fashion, all existing randomised trials of branded diets to determine their effectiveness with regard to weight loss.”