A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, led by the School of Public Health at Harvard and the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana, has determined that the key to losing weight is to stick to the basic rule: down the calories.
According to Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, director of the National Heart, Lung and Hematologic, “The secret is that no matter if you focus on reducing fat or carbohydrate … the key is to limit consumption of calories and burn more calories exercise.
The researchers randomly assigned 811 overweight adults with four diets, each of which contained different levels of fat, protein and carbohydrates. All four contain healthy fats, were rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables and low in cholesterol.
About two thirds of participants were women. Each was encouraged to lose 750 calories a day with your diet, they exercised 90 minutes a day, keeping a food diary on the Internet and meet regularly with advisors in nutrition to monitor his progress.
None of the diets was better than the other: reducing weight and waist size were similar in all groups.
Participants lost an average of 6 kg (13 pounds) at six months, but all the groups began to gain weight after a year. Within two years the average weight loss was down to 4 kilograms (9 pounds). Only 15% lost 10% or more of their initial weight.
