A diet is a diet is a diet?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/02/25...iet/index.html

CNN summarized the findings of a 2 year study by Harvard on the effects of different macronutrient intake on weight loss. In short, over 800 obese people were asked to go on diets that either restricted protein intake, fat intake, or carb intake. The actual foods consumed were up to the individual as assisted by dieticians but for each individual a different macronutrient was restricted. Also a caloric deficit of 750 kcals was imposed per person. The deficit was based on their current caloric intake, no consideration for BMR and all that.

The result was that there was no difference in weight loss between the different diet types, indicating that caloric deficit is caloric deficit, no matter where the deficit comes from. Those with the most significant losses were those that were able to modify their behavior towards healthy eating, with the results being the same no matter which macronutrient was restricted.

Fairly interesting result for those of us that are trying to lose weight and are trying to do so with a combination of different exercises and different diet plans.

the article seems to talk about it strictly in terms of the amount of poundage lost, not delving too deeply into whether muscle, fat, lean or water weight was lost or gained.

I'm not obese.

Originally Posted by robertorex

Click to expand...

the article seems to talk about it strictly in terms of the amount of poundage lost, not delving too deeply into whether muscle, fat, lean or water weight was lost or gained.

Yea, I know. I mean obviously for those that have specific types of goals the article doesnt apply but I'm talking about just strict weight loss. It would have been interesting though if they could have tested for body fat percentage.

Reminds me of the debate between 3 meals a day (supported by the intermittent fasting camp) and 6 meals a day (everyone else). Studies showed that between the two, caloric deficit is caloric deficit and it didn't matter whether you ate 3 times or 6 times a day as long as your diet was good and as long as there was a deficit you would get the same result of weight loss.

20 years ago, I lost a great deal of weight and kept it off for years on a diet whose base was fruit, vegitables and brown rice - essentially a complex carb diet.

in the past 18 months I've lost more than 85 pounds on a high protien, very low carb diet.

I think that different diets work for different people, and even at differnet times in your life.

Originally Posted by globetrotter

Click to expand...

20 years ago, I lost a great deal of weight and kept it off for years on a diet whose base was fruit, vegitables and brown rice - essentially a complex carb diet.

in the past 18 months I've lost more than 85 pounds on a high protien, very low carb diet.

I think that different diets work for different people, and even at differnet times in your life.

I would argue that it had less to do with any physiological difference in you between those two times and more to do with your mindset.

Rule 1 in any diet is calorie deficit. Once you establish that number you them have to look at yourself and determine which of the hundreds of approaches out there best suits your personality. Are you a strict calorie counter or do you need to set up arbitrary scenario to limit your calories such as food restrictions or IF.

In other words, which can you stick with the longest. That's the secret.

lefty

Originally Posted by lefty

Click to expand...

I would argue that it had less to do with any physiological difference in you between those two times and more to do with your mindset.

Rule 1 in any diet is calorie deficit. Once you establish that number you them have to look at yourself and determine which of the hundreds of approaches out there best suits your personality. Are you a strict calorie counter or do you need to set up arbitrary scenario to limit your calories such as food restrictions or IF.

In other words, which can you stick with the longest. That's the secret.

lefty
I used to agree with you on this, now I am honeslty not sure. I dont think that a calorie is a calorie in terms of how the body reacts to them.

Originally Posted by globetrotter

Click to expand...

I used to agree with you on this, now I am honeslty not sure. I dont think that a calorie is a calorie in terms of how the body reacts to them.

I'm with globe on this one -- and none of the diets in the study featured low enough carb/high enough fat percentages to be effective in my experience.

Did they do a body composition analysis by comparing body fat, lean muscle mass, insulin response, etc.?

'Weight loss' is always good for some people who are fatasses. But most of us want to be *leaner* and not just weigh less. Nobody wants to be 'skinny-fat' and have diabetes.

Thinking about your diet and actually caring about caloric intake is a threshold step, and people will lose weight if they do this. But if they want to be healthier and leaner, then the macronutrient composition matters. High protein, low carb, sufficient amount of healthy fats = win

I'm willing to accept a small percentage of people are carb sensitive but I don't buy the arguement everybody is.

I average 50-60% carbs every single day. I'm around 8% bf. 146lbs 5'9". I don't think that's horrific with me being in my mid 40s.

If you want me to believe carbs are bad you'll have to try really hard.

Of course I'm too lazy to work out most days. If I worked out like a good old man then I'd be even leaner.

Originally Posted by Nicola

Click to expand...

I'm willing to accept a small percentage of people are carb sensitive but I don't buy the arguement everybody is.

I average 50-60% carbs every single day. I'm around 8% bf. 146lbs 5'9". I don't think that's horrific with me being in my mid 40s.

If you want me to believe carbs are bad you'll have to try really hard.

Of course I'm too lazy to work out most days. If I worked out like a good old man then I'd be even leaner.

Every person's body and metabolism is unique to them. Obviously your sample size of *one* is important to you personally, but the weight of scientific data suggests that eating large amounts of simple sugars and refined grains (high GI foods) results in a variety of metabolic disorders and diseases.

Carbs aren't 'bad.' I eat my oats, fruits, and veggies every day. I'll up my carb intake and eat some pasta/rice if I need the energy. It's those people who sit on their ass every day and stuff their faces with donuts, hamburgers, fries, and sodas all day who need to afraid of carbs since their intake is excessive and their bodies can't handle it.

Try lowering your carb intake a bit and upping your protein and healthy fat (no-trans) intake. You might be healthy now, but the true test is to see if you may feel even better still. It's worth a shot, right?

Originally Posted by Nicola

Click to expand...

I'm willing to accept a small percentage of people are carb sensitive but I don't buy the arguement everybody is.

I average 50-60% carbs every single day. I'm around 8% bf. 146lbs 5'9". I don't think that's horrific with me being in my mid 40s.

If you want me to believe carbs are bad you'll have to try really hard.

Of course I'm too lazy to work out most days. If I worked out like a good old man then I'd be even leaner.

How in the world do you stay at 8% BF if you are too lazy to workout? lol. I'm 5'9 and I'd love to be 8% BF at 146lb.

2200 calories a day . I also live at 2400 feet above sea level so that helps. But I'm certainly not working out like I used to. I promise myself next week I'll start again.

Originally Posted by Nicola

Click to expand...

2200 calories a day . I also live at 2400 feet above sea level so that helps.

lol wut

Originally Posted by turbozed

Click to expand...

Try lowering your carb intake a bit and upping your protein and healthy fat (no-trans) intake. You might be healthy now, but the true test is to see if you may feel even better still. It's worth a shot, right?

That's basically the opposite of the normal Med diet. In many ways that's the way many Italians are going and it's leading to climbing obesity levels.

I'll stick with what I've been doing. If anything I'd rather hike my veggie/fruit intake.