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Wednesday, April 09, 2003Among obese patients, weight loss was associated with longer diet duration, restriction of calorie intake, but not with reduced carbohydrate content. Low-carbohydrate diets had no significant adverse effect on serum lipid, fasting serum glucose, and fasting serum insulin levels, or blood pressure. It was one of those hodge-podge studies that looks at trends found in a bunch of other studies, so it can’t be quoted as solid proof, but its findings do correlate with common sense. There’s only one known truth when it comes to weight loss - calories count. In fact, this week’s JAMA is devoted to obesity. It also included this study, which found that structured programs (a la weight watchers) had more success than going it alone when it comes to shedding pounds: Random assignment to either a self-help program (n = 212) consisting of two 20-minute counseling sessions with a nutritionist and provision of self-help resources or to a commercial weight loss program (n = 211) consisting of a food plan, an activity plan, and a cognitive restructuring behavior modification plan, delivered at weekly meetings. At 2 years, 150 participants (71%) in the commercial group and 159 (75%) in the self-help group completed the study. In the intent-to-treat analysis, mean (SD) weight loss of participants in the commercial group was greater than in the self-help group at 1 year (-4.3 [6.1] kg vs -1.3 [6.1] kg, respectively; P<.001) and at 2 years (-2.9 [6.5] kg vs -0.2 [6.5] kg, respectively; P<.001). Waist circumference (P = .003) and body mass index (P<.001) decreased more in the commercial group. Changes in blood pressure, lipids, glucose, and insulin levels were related to changes in weight in both groups, but between-group differences in biological parameters were mainly nonsignificant by year 2. There’s much more motivation in a group setting to stick with the regimen. So much easier to backslide when you go it alone. Take it from a repeat backslider.... posted by Sydney on 4/09/2003 09:36:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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