For many people, it’s a constant battle: Trying to lose weight despite the scale refusing to go down.
Now new research from Stanford University says there’s a good reason why–you just might be on the wrong diet.
“We have a saying that no diet works for everyone and every diet works for someone,” says Gail Woodward-Lopez, an associate director for the UC Berkeley Atkins Center for Weight and Health. “There’s no magic bullet. But for those who have specific needs, this study could be very helpful.”
Although the research is currently ongoing, researchers say their hypothesis concludes that people lose weight not based on going on a diet, but going on the right diet–something they attribute to each person’s own unique psychology. For instance, someone with a type A personality may do well on strict diet such as the Paleo diet, whereas someone with a more fluid personality may prefer the flexibility of such diets such as Weight Watchers.
In addition, certain diets may benefit others more depending on their glucose tolerance.
“Two people could each be 40 pounds overweight, and one is insulin resistant and the other one not,” says Christopher Gardner, a professor of medicine at Stanford University and current lead of the study. “The same diet may not work for both of them.”
In an interesting bit of data, Gardner goes on to say that people statistically perform poorly on low-carb and low-fat diets–yet it’s those who face diabetes that perform better on low-carb diets. In contrast, those with normal insulin levels tend to do better on low-fat diets since their bodies better regulate carbohydrates.
Now, Gardner plans to see how both diets work over the long haul by having volunteers go on either a low-carb or low-fat diet for the next five years. From there, he’ll see if these diets do work for individuals with certain health problems, as previous studies only investigated its short term effects.
“We wait until participants finish their 12 months and then analyze their baseline, mid-study and end-study blood samples all at once, and then the laboratory variability is lower,” says Gardner. “There is no question that good nutrition and exercise play a role in achieving weight loss and good health, but having a predictor of what kind of diet will have the best benefits could make the difference. And then to be successful, you have to maintain that diet lifestyle forever.”
While the study is currently ongoing, experts say there’s already lessons to be learned from Gardner’s experiment. Perhaps if you’ve struggled to lose weight in the past, you just may be on the wrong diet–and need to switch it up. Your best bet: Follow a diet that you have no trouble following; chances are if you follow a diet that’s hard to follow, you won’t want to stick with it for the long haul.
Readers: Out of all of the diets you’ve tried before, which one is your favorite?
Source:
Slim Chance of Weight Loss With Wrong Diet – SFGate.com
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