Healthy Aging® And Nutrition: Diet News is Old News- It’s input vs. output!
We all want a silver bullet to lose weight. This week it’s the Beach Body program, next week it’s the Slimfast, followed by NutriSystem and so on.
There is one secret that all of these programs have in common. It’s input vs. output. If you look at any diet program, it all comes down to calories consumed and calories burned. What’s great about these programs is the “dieter” gets just that… a program. Often, they also get dieting and exercise support.
Well, a study just released by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute supports the premise of weight loss can only be achieved if “output” is greater than “input”. Here’s what they say:
Heart-healthy diets that reduce calorie intake — regardless of differing proportions of fat, protein, or carbohydrate — can help overweight and obese adults achieve and maintain weight loss, according to a study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health, and published Feb., 26, 2009, in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers from the Preventing Overweight Using Novel Dietary Strategies (POUNDS LOST) study found similar weight loss after six months and two years among participants assigned to four diets that differed in their proportions of these three major nutrients. The diets were low or high in total fat (20 or 40 percent of calories) with average or high protein (15 or 25 percent of calories). Carbohydrate content ranged from 35 to 65 percent of calories. The diets all used the same calorie reduction goals and were heart-healthy-low in saturated fat and cholesterol while high in dietary fiber.
On average, participants lost 13 pounds at six months and maintained a 9 pound loss at two years. Participants also reduced their waistlines by 1 to 3 inches by the end of the study. Craving, fullness, hunger, and diet satisfaction were all similar across the four diets.
You don’t have to be a science or math major to get it… it’s all in the numbers, simple as that.
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Read the original: Healthy Aging Month part 4 – Nutrition: Diet News is Old News- It’s input vs. output!
Good stuff, Dr. Heins. It seems so simple, but for many Americans this “easy concept” can become a daily stuggle. This struggle is where I think doctors of all types shine by being supportive and not critical.
What’s interesting (and will continue to be interesting) is that in the medical profession we have to stay on top of all these weird diets and filter through the garbage.
Thanks again James for your comment ! And yes being supportive instead of critical is very important! Our patients need our support not our criticism. And yes, those of us in the field of Health Care need to ‘stay on top’ of things like the newest ‘fad diet’ as it is our responsibility to ensure the health and well being of the public who put their trust in us for our professional opinion.