According to new research, a low-fat diet offers the least chance for long-term weight loss.
Over four years, researchers at the Children's Hospital Boston looked at how easily volunteers 'regained weight' after following either a low-fat diet, low-glycemic index diet (commonly known as the GI Diet), or low-carbohydrate diet (or Atkins).
Many people can lose weight for a few months, but most have difficulty maintaining clinically significant weight loss over the long term, explains the report.
In a statement the researcher highlight that, according to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2006), only one in six overweight and obese adults report ever having maintained weight loss of at least 10% for one year.
One explanation for the poor long-term outcome is that weight loss elicits biological adaptations, suggests the research.
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Specifically a decline in energy expenditure and an increase in hunger—that promotes weight.
According to preliminary research published in the June 27 issue of JAMA, a low-fat diet may increase the risk for weight regain compared to the other diets.
In an examination of the effect on energy expenditure and components of the metabolic syndrome of three types of commonly consumed diets following weight loss, decreases in resting energy expenditure and total energy expenditure were greatest with a low-fat diet, intermediate with a low-glycemic index diet, and least with a very low-carbohydrate diet.
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The study, conducted between June 2006 and June 2010, included 21 overweight and obese young adults.
The researchers found that energy expenditure during weight-loss maintenance differed significantly among the three diets.
"The results of our study challenge the notion that a calorie is a calorie from a metabolic perspective," the researchers write, in a statement.
"These findings suggest that a strategy to reduce glycemic load rather than dietary fat may be advantageous for weight-loss maintenance and cardiovascular disease prevention.
"Ultimately, successful weight-loss maintenance will require behavioral and environmental interventions to facilitate long-term dietary adherence.
"But such interventions will be most effective if they promote a dietary pattern that ameliorates the adverse biological changes accompanying weight loss," the researchers conclude.
