Low-Fat Diets vs. Low-Carbohydrate Diets: Which Is a Better Weight-Loss Program?

It is estimated that one in three adults in the United States struggle with obesity. This disease has been linked to both environmental and genetic factors. However, debates on which type of diet is best for weight loss are still ongoing today. Low-fat diets seem to be the most suggested option considering that fat contains twice more calories.

As reported by Meta, the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal published a study that gives further insight into the diet and weight loss issue. The group compared randomized controlled trials (RCT) of everyday diets, higher-fat diets and low-carbohydrates diets versus low-fat diets through meta-analysis and systematic review. RCTs compared were 53 in total, which includes 68,128 individuals.

Only the studies which followed participants for up to a year were considered in the analysis.

The study revealed that a low-fat diet is not necessarily better in terms of efficacy than high-fat diets and low-carbohydrate diets for weight loss in the long-term. The results actually point that low-carbohydrate diets warranted a higher chance of success than low-fat diets.

These findings mirror the conclusions of another meta-analysis that was recently published. Both agree that weight loss recommendations should change. The group also found that no significant difference was recorded in weight loss when high-fat and low-fat interventions were cross-examined with non-weight loss and weight loss trials.

However, weight loss studies that used a more aggressive intervention approach recorded that high-fat diets were more successful than diets that are said to be of low-fat content. The latter diet was only more successful when compared with non-intervening approach, such as everyday diets.

The Guardian also reported that low-fat diets are not as effective as Mediterranean diets for long-term weight loss.

The authors concluded from the evidence they collected that the health and nutrition guidelines must cease advising any sort of low-fat diets to shed off weight, with respect to the obvious non-presence of long-term effect, especially when compared with several other similar dietary interventions.