Low-carb diet produces similar results to standard low-fat diet

The question: Picking a diet plan has befuddled many people. Some opt to cut calories; others, carbohydrates or fat. Does one method have advantages over the other?

This study randomly assigned 132 obese adults to follow either a low-fat or a low-carb diet for one year. Of the participants, 83 percent had diabetes, a common problem among severely overweight people. One group was to consume fewer than 30 grams of carbohydrates a day. The others were to reduce calories consumed by 500 a day, with less than 30 percent of them coming from fat. Both got weekly and then monthly counseling about their diets. After a year, weight loss was similar between the two groups, ranging from 11 to 19 pounds for the low-carb dieters and seven to 19 pounds for the low-fat group. The rate of loss, however, was different, with low-carb participants losing more pounds in the first six months and then maintaining most of the loss, and the low-fat eaters continuing to lose steadily for 12 months. Levels of triglyceride, a blood fat that contributes to heart disease, decreased more in the low-carb group, and high-density lipoprotein (the “good”) cholesterol decreased less. Among diabetics, glucose levels dropped more in those on the low-carb than the low-fat diet.

Who may be affected by these findings? Anyone who is overweight or obese.

Caveats: The study had a 34 percent dropout rate, which suggests the difficulty of adhering to a strict diet over time. Also, an individual’s response to either eating plan might vary from the results achieved by study participants.

Bottom line: People considering weight loss may want to discuss the benefits of various plans with their doctors.

Find this study: May 18 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine; abstract available online at www.annals.org.

Learn more about selecting a diet plan at www.niddk.nih.gov (search for “weight loss program”) and at www.mayoclinic.com.