Which Weight Loss Diet Is Most Effective?

A high protein, low carbohydrate diet is the most effective at reducing hunger and promoting weight loss, at least in the short term, according to new study.

Researchers at the Rowett Research Institute (Aberdeen, United Kingdom) examined 17 obese men in a residential trial; food was provided daily. The subjects were offered two high-protein (30% of energy) ad libitum (un-prepared) diets, each for a four-week period. The first was a low carbohydrate (LC, 4% carbohydrate) ketogenic diet, and the second a moderate carbohydrate (MC, 35% carbohydrate) diet, which were randomized in a crossover design. Body weight was measured daily, and ketosis was monitored by analysis of plasma and urine samples. Hunger was assessed by using a computerized visual analogue system.

The study results showed that ad libitum energy intakes were lower with the LC diet than with the MC diet. Over the four-week period, hunger was significantly lower and weight loss was significantly greater with the LC diet (6.34 kg) than with the MC diet (4.35 kg). The LC diet induced ketosis with mean 3-hydroxybutyrate concentrations of 1.52 mmol/L in plasma, and 2.99 mmol/L in urine. The researchers concluded that in the short term, high-protein, low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diets reduce hunger and lower food intake significantly more than do high-protein, medium-carbohydrate, non-ketogenic diets. The study was published in the January 2008 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

"We showed that on the high-protein low-carbohydrate diet the volunteers became ketogenic within 1-2 days of starting this diet and so it may be that high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets are particularly effective because of the combined effect of the protein and the ketone bodies,” said lead author nutritionist Dr. Alex Johnstone. "We showed that the volunteers on the ketogenic diet reduced their energy intake without increasing their hunger and this was a very important factor in their ability to stick to the diet.”

The most marketed and well-known LC diet is the Atkins nutritional approach, popularly known as the Atkins Diet. It was adapted by Dr. Robert Atkins in the 1960s from a diet he read in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and utilized to resolve his own overweight condition. After successfully treating over ten thousand patients, he popularized the Atkins diet in a series of books, starting with Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution in 1972.


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Rowett Research Institute