Source: Forbes.com
Like many of my physician colleagues, I have been accused of harping
on a single weight loss message. Weight loss is merely a question of
calories in and calories out we usually say. Just make your calorie
balance negative and all will be well. You keep on arguing with us. ‘I
swear I don’t eat that much, I watch my calories but I’m not losing
weight,’ you respond. We then roll our eyes and complain about you in
the doctor’s lounge (just kidding).
In our defense, there has never been any
convincing research to say that this is not true. More importantly, the
first law of thermodynamics argues that it is. A recent article in the
Journal of the American Medical Association may change our collective
professional views somewhat. The article is getting a lot of press. A recent article in
the New York Times discussed the study but left out some very important
details. Unfortunately, this and many of the other reports leave out a
great deal of important information. This leads them to overdramatize
the results. I think it would be helpful to explain the article to you
in its entirety to help you understand the data more completely. I’ll
try to give you the entire picture without the media spin.
Source: Journal of the American Medical Association
The study had two phases and started with 32 participants. In the
first “run-in” phase, subjects were placed on a balanced diet designed
to get them to lose 12.5% of their body weight. Only 21 subjects that
were able to lose that much weight and be included in the second “test”
phase where they were placed on one of three diets:
1. Low fat diet. This diet was designed to reflect conventional
recommendations to reduce fat and increase whole grains, fruits, and
vegetables.
2. Low glycemic index diet. Replaced grains and starchy vegetables
with sources of healthful fat and low-glycemic index vegetables,
legumes, and fruits.
3. Very low carbohydrate diet. This diet restricted carbohydrates to about 10% of calorie intake.
The study was designed to measure metabolism using radio-isotope
measurements, activity level using an accelerometer, hormones, insulin
sensitivity, cholesterol, and participant reported measures of hunger
and well-being.
Results:
Metabolism:
The most interesting finding of the study was that total metabolism
(total calories burned per day) decreased in all groups after
dieting but to a greater extent in the low fat diet group (about 423
calories/day). It is well known that when you diet, your metabolism
slows down but it was somewhat surprising to see the differences among
the groups and the extent to which it slowed. The group that ate the
very low carb diet had the smallest drop in their metabolism (about 97
cal/d). In other words, this diet had less of an effect on the slowing
of metabolism such that you would have to eat 300 fewer calories to
maintain the same weight loss on a low fat diet as comparede to a low
carbohydrate diet. The low glycemic index diet was in between (297
cal/d). These differences were not accounted for by increased exercise
among the dieters as measured by an accelerometer.
Hormones:
The hormone leptin (which I talk a lot about in my book) is a hormone
that, when elevated, triggers appetite and affects metabolism to
help gain weight. In the low-fat diet, levels were the highest while
they were the lowest in the low carb diet. Insulin effectiveness, HDL
cholesterol, and triglycerides were all better in the low carb diet,
following the same trend as the numbers for metabolism. There were no
differences in the subjects sensation of hunger.
My conclusions:
It appears that a calorie is not necessarily a calorie with respect
to metabolic responses to dieting. All dieting leads to a reflex
decrease in metabolism that will favor weight gain if you’re not careful
with controlling your calories. With that said, it appears that a diet
that is lower in carbs will cause less of a drop in metabolism and help
maintain weight loss better in the short term.
This explains why people who are on low fat diets have a harder time
losing weight initially than those on low carbohydrate diets. It also
helps to explain the explosion in obesity in our country. About 40
years ago, dietary fats were found to be associated with heart disease
and were regualted to be decreased significantly in our food. The food
industry replaced those calories with carbohydrates which would lead to
the metabolic changes noted above and make weight loss harder.
Caveats
1. Even though this is a seemingly exciting and powerful study that
sheds light on a very important part of weight loss, it is important not
to get carried away and draw too many conclusions from the results.
This was a small study over a small period of time that didn’t include
exercise as part of the regimen. It is not clear if the
differences among the groups would persist over time. It is possible
that the differences could equal out or reverse entirely if the diets
are maintained for a even a short time longer. Most of us want to be
successful for more than just one month.
2. The calorie intake was strictly monitored and controlled by the
research coordinators. This means that it is not clear how effective
the diet would be if subjects were left to do it on our own.
3. Only subjects that were succesfull at losing weight during the
run-in phase were entered into the test phase of the study. This could
bias the results significantly in any number of ways.
4. It’s not clear what the diet’s effects were on body composition.
Maybe the metabolic increases came from decreasing muscle mass and not
fat. What good is it to lose weight if you become more flabby? This
would also have an impact on future metabolism which is largely
determined by lean muscle mass.
5. On a more cautionary, note, one of the things the researchers
measured was 24-hour cortisol excretion which is a marker of physiologic
stress. It was significantly higher in the low carb group. This
indicates that a low carb diet may be putting the body under stress.
The values were not high relative to normal but they were significantly
higher in the low carb group. Additionally, C-reactive protein was
higher indicating a pro-inflammatory response to the diet. These are
possibly important indicators that even though the diet may be better
for losing weight in the short term, it may not be good for general
over-all health in the long term.
My conclusions
I think this study supports but does not clearly prove some of the
things I have been discussing in previous posts about the dangers of sugar loaded foods and beverages.
A diet that is specifically low in fat may be less effective at weight
loss because of the resultant larger decrease in metabolism. You should
be careful when buying foods that are advertised as low in fat. They
usually make up for the lower fat by increasing the sugars.
If you’re looking to lose weight, you should cut out the carbs first
but you still have to keep track of your overall calorie intake. It is
important to note that it still is just an equation of calories in and
calories out. It just turns out the the type of calories in may have an
impact on the amount of calories out.
With that said, I worry that people will think that they can cut out
carbs and eat whatever else they like. Remember that, in this study,
overall calories were still rigidly controlled. This is something I
cannot stress enough. If you’re not counting, you’re probably not
losing. The authors still conclude, and I strongly agree, that
sustained and effective weight loss requires long-term changes in
lifestyle. Even if a low-carb diet is more effective in the short-term,
the weight will come back if the change is not permanent.
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