Low-carbohydrate diet helps in weight loss

Obese women who follow low-carbohydrate diets, may lose more weight in a four-month period than those who go on low-fat diets. In a previous study, researchers form the University of Cincinnati, Ohio compared the effects of a low-carbohydrate diet versus a low-fat diet among obese women. They found that the women on the low-carbohydrate diet lost more than twice as much weight as compared to those on low-fat diet during a six-month period. To investigate, researchers randomly assigned 50 moderately obese women to a low-carbohydrate diet group or a low-fat diet group. Only the low-fat group was told to restrict their caloric intake. Forty women completed the study. By the end of the four-month study, women in both groups had lost weight and body fat. However, the low-carbohydrate group lost more than 10 per cent of their body weight, while the low-fat group lost about 7 per cent. Specifically, the low-carbohydrate group lost 9.8 kilograms (21.6 pounds) of weight and 6.2 kilograms (13.7 pounds) of body fat, while the low-fat group lost about 6.1 kilograms (13 pounds) of weight and 3.2 kilograms (7 pounds) of body fat. To estimate their level of physical activity, women in both groups were fitted with pedometers, which recorded the number of steps they took daily. At the start of the study, both groups of women had similar pedometer readings, and by the end of the study, there were no significant changes. Resting energy expenditure was also similar between the two groups at the start of the study and remained comparable four months later. The thermic effect of food (TEF), which comprises up to 10 per cent of the amount of energy consumed daily, includes the energy expended during digestion. When the investigators obtained TEF measurements after the women ate breakfasts containing a similar number of calories, they found that those on the low-fat diet expended more energy in a five-hour period. This suggests that the low-fat meal was absorbed more quickly than the low-carbohydrate meal. These results confirm that short-term weight loss is greater in obese women on a low-carbohydrate diet than in those on a low-fat diet even when reported food intake is similar.

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