As the end of the old year approaches and everyone starts to look forward to the start of the new year, many people are also looking forward to starting their New Year's resolutions. For many people, their New Year's resolutions will include promises to eat less, start a diet and exercise plan, and lose at least a few pounds. People who are about to start a new diet often wonder which diet will work best for them and help them lose the most weight.
There are a lot of diets out there, and it seems like every few months a new diet or eating plan becomes the most popular way to lose weight. Is it possible that all "popular" diets can help you lose weight, or do some help you lose weight more than others?
A group of researchers recently set out to find the answer to this question. Over the course of two months, 160 people who were in a supervised programme were closely watched. The 160 people who took part in the programme were all given the freedom to choose whatever diet they wanted. Researchers waited and watched to see which diet or diets turned out to be the most effective.
At the end of the study, they found out some very interesting things. The information they gathered helped them find out not only which diet plans tend to help people lose more weight overall, but also which plans people are more likely to stick with for long-term weight loss and maintenance.
The people who took part in the study were free to choose their favourite diet plan, but most of them chose Atkins, Weight Loss, Ornish, or the Zone. Even though the first data was collected after only two months, researchers kept looking at the other people. They found that after a certain amount of time, more than half of the people who chose diet plans like the Atkins plan, which are low in carbs and high in fat, quit. Also, about the same number of people who chose the Ornish plan, which focuses on vegetarian foods that are low in fat and high in carbs, also stopped dieting. People who joined Weight Watchers did a little bit better, with about two-thirds of them sticking with it. The results were the same for everyone in The Zone.
So, which diet plans helped people lose the most weight overall? All of them did about the same, which was a surprise. People who followed the Ornish plan and stuck to their diet for the whole year lost about 6% of their body weight. This was the most weight loss of any group. Atkins lost about 4 percent of weight, while Weight Watchers and the Zone lost about 5 percent on average. But the health risks that come with being overweight were a totally different story. Heart disease risk went down by 15% for Weight Watchers members, while it stayed around the 12% mark for those on other diet plans. The people who followed the Ornish diet plan lost more weight overall, but their risk of heart disease only went down by 7%.
In the end, though, researchers came to the conclusion that there is no one magic diet. If your New Year's resolution is to lose weight, the best thing you can do is the same thing no matter what diet plan you choose. Eat smart, cut back on portions, drink lots of water, do some light exercise, and find a diet buddy to help you reach your weight loss goals.
