I want to share with you my thoughts about some of the newer developments in our knowledge about weight loss and weight management. When it comes to healthy eating and weight loss, Nutritionists, dietitians, and other health professionals can only share the best information we know based on the latest in science-based research.
At any given point in time our knowledge is incomplete. That’s simply the nature of how research works. Please be cautious about believing what you read and hear about in the news!
All too often you may learn about a new method, product, or service in the media that promises “the answer” to YOUR challenges in achieving your goal weight and better health. Always pause to ask if it’s the real deal. As the saying goes, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Weight management is very complicated. You know that. I know that. However, it is nice to hold on to the hope for an easy solution. Let’s take a look at some of the latest information about weight loss in the news.
Change Your Brain, Change Your Body: Use Your Brain to Get and Keep the Body You Have Always Wanted
by Dr. Daniel Amen
A fascinating television program about the newest book written by Dr. Daniel Amen was aired recently on PBS festival week (fund-raising week) in Iowa. I was intrigued by the information he shared. He claims that differences in brain function from one person to the next influences not only a person’s mental health BUT ALSO that person’s ability to lose weight. He is, of course, the owner of the solution for you to assess what your brain might be like as well as the specific remedy. All for a price.
I have no difficulty accepting that the brain and in turn the way we think influences the ability to succeed with any weight loss program. That there might be a specific and unique remedy for each person is intriguing. On the other hand, as with almost any other recommendation for any weight loss program, Dr. Amen stresses the need to eat a healthy diet, restrict calories, get exercise, and be sure to get enough sleep. These are all the same things I cover on this website. If you follow these recommendations you are likely to lose weight regardless of any other change.
What troubled me most was learning more about the story behind having such a program aired on PBS. Like many people, I have a tendency to be more trusting of programs on PBS. It turns out however, that PBS had nothing to do with the production or content of this program. Each local PBS station (315 or so in the United States) is independent, locally owned, and operated and can get material from sources other than PBS. The only way in which you can know for sure if a program is indeed from PBS is to look for the PBS logo at the end of a program. But it isn’t always easy to catch.
Will Dr. Amen’s methods work? I don’t know. Had the program been vetted by PBS, I would have been confident his information was supported by peer-reviewed research studies. Unfortunately, I’m not aware of any well-documented follow-up studies for Dr. Amen’s program.
I will have a wait and see approach to learn if there is any research by other scientists to support his conclusions. His books may make for interesting reading but you may want to hold off before you invest heavily in Dr. Amen’s products.
Weight loss efforts may be dependent on genes to work
Another piece of fascinating news relates to research performed by Stanford University Researchers. In a study of 133 overweight women, these researchers learned that a genetic test may help people know in advance which diet works best!
The women with a genetic predisposition for a low-carbohydrate diet lost 2 ½ times as much weight as women lacking this predisposition. On the other hand, women with a different genetic makeup that evidently favored a low-fat diet, lost significantly more weight than women who reduced their intake of fat calories but lacked the same gene tendency.
If you have always felt like one diet or the other works better for you, this may be the evidence to support your conclusion! I look forward to seeing more research to back up these findings.
Low-fat diet seems to be a better choice in the long run than low-carb
The results of yet another study seem to negate the results I just reported on about genetic predisposition. Which one is right?
Researchers associated with the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania followed the weight loss and maintenance efforts of a group of 132 obese people (the study seems to have included both men and women) for over three years. The study participants engaged in either a low-fat and calorie-restricted diet with less than 30% of daily calories from fat or a low-carb diet with fewer than 30 grams of carbohydrate per day for 12 months.
The group on the low-carb diet experienced the greatest weight loss after six months; however, by 12 months there was no significant difference in the two groups. These results match what has been found in previous studies.
What may be more interesting is what the researchers found two years after the diets ended. Both groups had regained some weight, however, a subgroup of 40 people on the low-carb diet weighed an average of 4.9 pounds less than when the diet began. Whereas in a subgroup of 48 participants from the low-fat diet, people weighed an average of 9.5 pounds less.
The researchers speculate that the weight regained may reflect how quickly the weight was lost initially. The participants who lost more weight during the first 12 months tended to regain more weight over the next two years.
Which study is right? Is low fat better than low carb?
We cannot directly compare the results of these two studies because the sample groups were not the same and the variables (characteristics) measured were different.
The study on genetic predisposition involved overweight women only, whereas the other study included both women and men who were obese. In addition, the later study did not include any assessment of possible genetic differences. So it is not clear if this study might have been biased toward individuals with a genetic predisposition that favors a low fat diet.
You see how research works? When we compare and contrast different studies we find at we have new questions. This leads to opportunities to fill in the gaps with more research.
We now need a study of both overweight and obese individuals with different genetic predispositions. Such a study also needs to include both men and women.
I wish it were easier to do research and come up with the answers people need. Unfortunately well-designed research studies are difficult. They are time consuming and expensive. We have to be patient.
My advice for you is to choose a healthy well-balanced diet with a reasonable calorie restriction for your age and weight (See 1200 calorie diet plan and 1500 calorie diet plan). If low fat suits you better, then choose menu plans that fit that choice. Just be sure to get some healthy fat from sources such as fatty fish, olive oil, canola oil, and avocados in your plan.
If you prefer low carb then that may be the better choice for you. I recommend getting a minimum of 20-40% carbohydrates in your diet. Be sure to choose whole grains to be sure you get enough dietary fiber and antioxidants along with all the other important nutrients these high carb foods have to offer. (To learn more you may want to read: Dietary Fiber: Can it help you with weight loss? and Whole Grains are a Weight Loss Winner.)
Till next time watch those calories and eat healthy food!
