Looking for the magic bullet to lose weight? Tricks to “burn” fat?

Let’s be honest. When it comes to losing weight and losing fat, it’s calories that count.

Yet how many of us have spent years, even decades, searching for JUST the right trick or fit?

Report of two weight loss studies

Two studies have been completed and reviewed in the last 2 years with similar results.

I’ll review the details of the most recent study, which you may have seen referenced in the news over the past week. I will then return to the report of another study completed earlier.

The studies agree on their findings: when it comes to the dietary analysis of what works best for weight loss, it all boils down to one thing: dietary compliance that results in negative energy balance (overall calorie reduction) is the decisive factor in fat loss.

No matter what diet, it’s the calorie reduction that makes the bottom line.

Study One: New England Journal of Medicine Report (2009)

[Ref: NEJM Vol 360:859-873 February 26, 2009 Number 9; Comparison of Weight-Loss Diets with Different Compositions of Fat, Protein, and Carbohydrates; Frank M. Sacks, M.D., et al]

weight loss intervention

For the purposes of this study, four groups were created. Each group followed a different dietary prescription in terms of the proportion of calories from fat, protein and carbohydrates.

The nutrient goals for the four diet groups varied in the following macronutrient breakdowns:

Group 1: 20% fat, 15% protein, and 65% carbohydrates (low fat, average protein);

Group 2: 20% fat, 25% protein, and 55% carbohydrates (low fat, high protein);

Group 3: 40% fat, 15% protein, and 45% carbohydrates (high fat, average protein); Y

Group 4: 40% fat, 25% protein, and 35% carbohydrates (high fat, high protein).

Thus, two of the diets were low in fat and two were high in fat; two were average protein and two were high protein.

Other goals for all groups included:

1) diets should include 8% or less saturated fat,

2) diets should include at least 20 g of dietary fiber per day, and

3) Diets should include 150 mg or less of cholesterol per 1,000 kcal.

In addition, carbohydrate-rich foods with a low glycemic index were recommended in each diet. Each participant’s caloric prescription represented a deficit of 750 kcal per day from the level of caloric intake that would maintain their current body weight. This was calculated from the person’s resting energy expenditure and activity level.

The physical activity goal was 90 minutes of moderate exercise per week. Participation in the exercise was monitored by questionnaire and by the online self-monitoring tool.

Results

Lost average weight? For each group, an average of 13 pounds at six months. Not surprisingly, after the six-month point, adherence to the diet tended to decline.

Conformity to cultural norms, scientific novelty, and media attention are nonbiological reasons for the success of specific diets. We use a generic approach to developing each diet and the instructions for following it, in order to minimize such influences. No diet was considered a control diet, and the dietary advice and care we provided was the same for all diet groups during the study period… the results suggest that any type of diet, when taught for the purpose By managing weight loss with enthusiasm and persistence, it can be effective. When non-nutritional influences are minimized, as was the case in our study, the content of specific macronutrients is of less importance, as was suggested many years ago.

Study Two: The “AZ Diet Study”, Intl. Obesity Journal (2008)

Quite possibly, the reference to previous studies includes the one reported last year by the International Journal of Obesity.

[Ref Intl J. Obesity (2008) 32, 985-991; doi:10.1038/ijo.2008.8; published online 12 February 2008]

In that study, 181 overweight/obese women in their mid-40s, on average, participated in a one-year randomized clinical trial called the A TO Z study.

This study was designed to compare the results of popular weight loss diets: the Atkins diet, the Zone diet, and the Ornish diet. Subjects were followed for diet compliance or adherence. AZ Diet Study Results?

Regardless of assigned diet groups, weight change at 12 months was greater in the most adherent compared with the least adherent tertiles. These results suggest that strategies to increase adherence may deserve more emphasis than the specific macronutrient composition of the weight-loss diet itself in supporting successful weight loss.

In other words, there was NO difference in overall weight loss between these four groups that was not specifically correlated with diet adherence. The researchers concluded that no matter what diet you’re on to lose weight, simply sticking to a reduced calorie load does the trick. Whether it’s a specific diet, mini-intermittent fasting, any other strategy to influence energy balance.

Is a calorie a calorie?

Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water.

There are some food choices and dietary guidelines that can make it easier to stick to a calorie cut. It’s common knowledge that highly processed carbohydrates, for example, can increase our hunger due to insulin surges, making it more difficult to maintain a calorie deficit.

We also know that severely restricting certain food groups can backfire on nutritional imbalance and cravings. Also, cutting calories TOO severely week after week only impacts makeup consumption and excess hunger. But you may know from experience, as do I!

So it still makes sense to pay attention to food quality, variety, and availability when it comes to fat loss, weight loss, or optimizing body composition. Specialized, deeply restrictive diets with a trick or two are simply a way to trick us into being in a calorie deficit. I remember the egg and grapefruit diet. Sure, it worked. Because that was all you could eat, and who doesn’t get tired of THAT after a day and a half?! This type of diet quickly brings the compliance problem to a head, right?

In general, though, it’s the calories, and not the magic of a specific dietary tactic, taboo, or secret, that counts when it comes to weight loss, fat loss, and weight management.