Brett Smith for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Many people embrace commercial programs or ‘fad’ diets in order to lose weight, and while these methods may help you shed pounds – an abnormal eating regimen could potentially have serious effects on heart health.
According to a new study in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, fad/commercial dieters had trouble keeping any lost weight off after the first year and may have had negative heart impacts as a result of the diet.
“Despite their popularity and important contributions to the multi-million dollar weight loss industry, we still do not know if these diets are effective to help people lose weight and decrease their risk factors for heart disease,” study author Dr. Mark J. Eisenberg, a professor of medicine at in Montreal, said in a statement. “With such a small number of trials looking at each diet and their somewhat conflicting results, there is only modest evidence that using these diets is beneficial in the long-term.”
In the study, researchers analyzed clinical studies on four popular diets: Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers, and Zone.
The researchers found that Weight Watchers dieters lost 7.7 to 13.2 pounds on average after 12 months as opposed to 1.8 to 11.9 pounds with a standard diet, exercise and weight-loss counseling regimen. However at 2 years, the weight lost was often negated.
While Atkins-related data was inconsistent, the South Beach diet, which also emphasizes low carbohydrate intake, did not produce a weight-loss advantage over the control group after 12 months. The researchers noted that participants in both these studies were significantly obese and had undergone gastric bypass surgery.
Clinical studies that compared Atkins, Weight Watchers, Zone and usual weight loss routines showed that all four produced a moderate weight loss at one year. Study participants on the Atkins diet dropped an average 4.6 to 10.3 pounds, Weight Watchers volunteers dropped an average 6.6 pounds, Zone dieters dropped an average 3.5 to 7 pounds and control volunteers lost approximately 4.85 pounds on average.
The researchers also found that trials involving head-to-head comparisons did not produce noticeable variances between Atkins, Weight Watchers, and Zone diets in helping with cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar or other risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
The lengthiest diet research study the scientists reviewed lasted for two years and outcomes were only available for the Atkins or Weight Watchers diets – a significant limitation on the team’s findings. Those long-term research studies included in the review discovered dieters gained back some of their lost weight over time.
To better comprehend the probable advantages of any one or all of these diets, scientists should carry out large clinical trials directly evaluating all four popular diets for both long-term weight loss and variations in other cardiovascular disease risk factors, the researchers suggested.
“A broader lifestyle intervention, which also involves doctors and other health professionals, may be more effective,” Eisenberg said. “This also tells doctors that popular diets on their own may not be the solution to help their patients lose weight.”
—–
GET FIT WITH FITBIT – Fitbit Flex Wireless Activity + Sleep Wristband, Black
—–
Comments