Long Term Results with Atkins Diet

Even if a diet will help you lose weight in the short term, it isn’t very good if you can’t keep it off. Once you are convinced about the safety of low-carb diets, the next burning questions is if it will help you keep the weight off.

The short answer? No one really knows. There is some anecdotal evidence on either side, although some research looks promising. An international team of researchers from Switzerland and the US looked at five trials comparing low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets published since 2003, with a total of 447 people and analysed weight loss, and blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides.

"Low-carbohydrate, non-energy restricted diets appear to be at least as effective as low-fat, energy-restricted diets in inducing weight loss for up to one year," wrote lead author Alain Nordmann in the Archives of Internal Medicine (Vol. 166, pp. 285-293).

After six months, people on the low-carb diet lost, on average, 3.3 kg more than those on the low-fat diets. Six months isn’t really long enough to be considered long-term, but it’s a start.

Frank Sacks, MD a researcher at the School of Public Health in Harvard does give credence to other lower-carb diets for long-term results. He explains, ''In a pilot study of 100 people, we found the higher-fat Mediterranean diet study produced better long-term weight loss than low-fat, high-carb diets. Participants felt more comfortable eating a moderate-fat diet. It was more tolerable over the long run. There were more foods to eat. It was tastier. The participants didn't feel this was bad medicine, and that may be as important as physiology.''

Castrum A, Inert Larsen T, Harper A. Atkins and other low-carbohydrate diets: hoax or an effective tool for weight loss? Lancet. 2004 Pep 4;364(9437):897-9. Abstract

Any AS Jr, Olsen AK, Guyton JR, Bakst RP, Westman EC. A low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet versus a low-fat diet to treat obesity and hyperlipidemia: a randomized, controlled trial. Ann Intern Med. 2004 May 18;140(10):769-77. Abstract

 

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