Low$-$fat diet 'better' than low$-$carb diet for getting rid of body

fat $-$ National Librar"Low$-$fat diets 'better than cutting carbs' for weight loss," says BBC News. But wait, the Mail Online says: "Lowcarb $\text{'}$is best for weight loss". Confused?

Traditionally, weight$-$loss diets were based on the concept of eating a low$-$fat diet. But in recent years the idea of

low or no carbohydrate diets, such as the Atkins diet, have become popular.

A new diet lab rigorously enforced either a low$-$carbohydrate or low$-$fat diet for $19$ obese men and women over

six days. The six$-$day low$-$carb diet led to more weight loss than a low$-$fat diet, but the low$-$fat diet led to more fat

loss. And losing fat tissue is generally better for your health. This means both the BBC and Mail Online are

technically correct.

The study was small, short term, and the diets were quite extreme. This makes them less relevant to most

people's everyday life or efforts to lose weight. They aren't convincing enough to settle the low$-$carb versus lowfat diet debate.

But you could argue the whole low$-$fat versus low$-$carb debate is a needlessly overcomplicated distraction from

what should be four simple words of advice $$ eat less, exercise more.

The principle of combining physical activity with reduced calorie consumption is at the core of the NHS Choices

weight loss plan $$ a sustainable way to lose weight without relying on any gimmicks.y of Medicine

Where did the story come from?

The study was carried out by researchers from the US National Institutes of Health and was funded by the

same organisation.

It was published in the peer$-$reviewed science journal Cell Metabolism on an open$-$access basis, so it is free

to read online or download as a PDF $($PDF$,1\mathrm{.}7$Mb$).$

The BBC and Mail Online ended up with opposite headlines based on the same study. The BBC went with "Lowfat diets 'better than cutting carbs' for weight loss", while the Mail Online said that, "Low$-$carb $\text{'}$is best' for weight

loss".

This confusion is understandable. The low$-$fat diet led to more fat loss $$ the outcome the study was most

interested in $$ but the low$-$carb diet led to more weight loss overall.

The researchers argue fat loss was more important to the obese people in this study for long$-$term weight loss.

This implies the weight loss achieved in the low$-$carb diet was not down to fat loss. Although this wasn't stated in

the study, you can lose weight via losses in muscle and water.

Both the BBC and the Mail carry a useful quote from an independent expert, Professor Susan Jebb, who rightly

says: "The best diet for weight loss is the diet you can stick to$".$ So outside of the highly restricted diet lab, the

bigger issue of weight loss is how to stick to a diet in the long term.