Want to lose
weight? It's OK to eat fats with
carbohydrates
NEW YORK, Apr
11
By Nancy
Deutsch
Some fad diets recommend that people
avoid consuming fat and carbohydrates in the same meal. For
example, you might eat a hamburger without the bun, and
consume bread later in the day.
Now a new study suggests you
might as well enjoy the whole burger in all its glory. If
weight loss is what you are after, it is not how you separate
your food that matters, but what and how much you
eat.
In the study, researchers at the
University Hospital in Geneva, Switzerland found that a diet
in which different types of foods were consumed at different
times of the day was no more effective than a standard
low-calorie diet.
According to the report in the
International Journal of Obesity, Dr. Alain Golay and
colleagues conclude that 'it is energy intake, not energy
composition or distribution throughout daytime, that
determines weight loss in response to low-energy diets.'
The researchers admitted 54 obese
people to the hospital and divided them into two groups. One
group was placed on a standard low-calorie diet (the balanced
diet) while the other consumed a similar calorie diet, but
avoided eating fat and carbohydrates in the same meal (the
dissociated diet).
The participants exercised for
two hours daily. At the end of the six week program those on
the balanced diet lost the same amount of weight as those on
the dissociated diet. Both groups had a similar loss of body
fat and an identical reduction in blood sugar, cholesterol and
insulin levels. Proponents of diets in which fat and
carbohydrates are consumed separately believe that the
carbohydrates may promote an increase in the amount of fat
stored in cells.
The findings are not surprising,
according to Dr. Diane Howlin, a clinical assistant professor
of internal medicine in the University of Michigan Health
System.
'Finally, these fluke diets are
being blown out of the water,' she said in an interview with
Reuters Health.
The fact that the researchers had
patients stay in hospital and could monitor what they ate
should help convince some fad-diet followers that these weight
loss programs do not work better than regular diets, she said.
'Only caloric reduction will help
a person lose weight. It's more sensible to increase exercise
and decrease caloric intake in a balanced way.'
SOURCE: International Journal of
Obesity; 2000; 24: 492-496.
(11 Apr 2000 1:55:0 EST)
