When two major diets compete, head to head, it’s really no contest

All’s fair in love…and research

I was catching up with an old friend of mine when she gave me some big news: She’d lost almost 10 pounds in less than a month on her new diet.

That was great news!

But she had more news she was eager to share: She did it by restricting calorie intake and cutting refined, simple carbohydrates out of her diet.

Well…no, that’s not really news. But I wasn’t going to burst her bubble. This was time for congratulations and encouragement to stick with it.

Apparently, after several months of experimenting with different diets, this was her first real success. And it’s no surprise, really. She finally found the secret PROVEN champion of diets.

In this corner…

What happens if you conduct a head-to-head trial of a low-carb diet in one corner and a low-fat diet in the other corner, BUT you give the low-fat group the added advantage of a popular diet drug?

It sounds like some weird professional wrestling scenario, doesn’t it? Two against one? No fair! (Loud, furious boos from the crowd.)

Nevertheless, Duke University researchers conducted this very test, giving the weight-loss drug Alli to each member of the low-fat group.

They recruited nearly 150 middle-aged subjects. All were overweight, and many coped with typical problems that go with carrying too much weight: type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.

Now — here’s what’s really remarkable…

In spite of the advantage in the low-fat group, subjects in BOTH groups lost a full 10 percent of their body weight on average — which is a very successful outcome for a weight-loss study.

And the blood pressure numbers were equally impressive: About 20 percent of the low-fat subjects were able to reduce their BP medication, while in the low-carb group close to HALF the subjects were able to decrease or discontinue their BP medication!

I should note that weekly group counseling was offered throughout most of the one-year trial. This intensive counseling was particularly important for the low-fat group because you really can’t cheat on your diet while taking Alli.

The repercussions aren’t pretty.

As I’ve mentioned before, Alli provides a built-in punishment for dieters who don’t stick with a strict low-fat diet.

Alli partially blocks absorption of dietary fats (including essential fats such as omega-3 fatty acids), so when an Alli dieter indulges in foods that contain too much fat, where does the fat go? According to the Alli website (myalli.com), “…oily spotting, loose stools and more frequent stools that may be hard to control.”

Lovely!

In a Duke press release, one of the authors noted: “It’s important to know you can try a diet instead of medication and get the same weight loss results with fewer costs and potentially fewer side effects.”

Absolutely! In fact, that may be the most important piece of information that anyone who’s about to attempt a diet needs to know.

Sources:
“Low-Carb Diet Effective at Lowering Blood Pressure” Duke Medicine News and Communications, 1/25/10, dukehealth.org

“A Randomized Trial of a Low-Carbohydrate Diet vs Orlistat Plus a Low-Fat Diet for Weight Loss” Archives of Internal Medicine, Vol. 170, No. 2, 1/25/10, archinte.ama-assn.org