A little fat may be key to long-term weight loss

[Guest guest]

A little fat may be key to long-term weight loss

NEW YORK, Oct 05 (Reuters Health) - A new study offers welcome news for the

millions of Americans who are fighting the battle of the bulge. Eating a

diet containing moderate levels of fat--as opposed to a strict low-fat

diet--is easier on dieters' taste buds and may result in more long-term

weight loss.

A moderate-fat diet is similar to the diets of people living in the

Mediterranean. Compared with low-fat diets, it allows people to consume more

peanut butter, nuts and so-called healthy oils like olive, peanut and

canola.

Dr. Kathy McManus of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts,

and colleagues compared weight loss success and overall satisfaction among

overweight people on a moderate-fat diet with those on a more conventional

low-fat diet. Their findings are published in the October issue of the

International Journal of Obesity.

In the study, 31 people consumed a moderate-fat diet and 30 consumed a

low-fat diet. While people in both groups experienced roughly the same

amount of weight loss after 6 months, the real difference came at the end of

the study--12 months later.

Those who ate the moderate-fat diet lost an average of about 9 pounds, while

those on the low-fat diet not only gained back the weight they originally

lost, but weighed about 6 pounds more than they did at the start of the

study.

After 18 months, 54% of the people originally recruited to the moderate-fat

diet group were still actively participating in the study, but only 20% of

those in the low-fat diet group still were.

" Reductions in percentage body fat, body mass index (a ratio of a person's

height and weight) and waist circumference were all greater in the

moderate-fat group, " the report indicates.

Those consuming the moderate-fat diet, who were then followed for an

additional year, lost a total of 7.7 pounds over the entire study period.

People consuming a moderate-fat diet said the diet was tastier than the

low-fat regimens that they had tried. This may have been the cause of their

increased group participation compared with those who ate a low-fat diet,

the authors suggest.

" In our study, three times as many people trying to lose weight were able to

stick to a Mediterranean-style diet versus the low-fat diet, " McManus

explained in a prepared statement.

" My patients loved this diet because they could include favorite foods if

they carefully watched portion sizes, " she added.

As an alternative to low-fat salad dressing, for instance, those on the

moderate-fat diet were encouraged to use olive oil or other non-fat reduced

dressings. They were also instructed to saute or stir-fry vegetables in

small amounts of olive oil as opposed to using non-fat cooking sprays or

steaming the vegetables.

" Our results support the use of a diet moderate in fat for weight loss in

obese persons, as an alternative to a standard low-fat diet to produce and

maintain long-term weigh loss because of the increased palatability of the

foods, " the researchers conclude.

SOURCE: International Journal of Obesity 2001;25:1503-1511.