By: Deborah David-Ona, MD

Losing weight is a battle. I have been battling with my weight all my life. I have not been blessed with the genes to maintain my figure at its ideal proportions. Because it has been a life long struggle, I have tried a lot of “fad” diets, but it really is hard to figure out which one is the best.
Recently, researchers have compared 3 well known diets in 322 mildly obese, middle aged participants over a span of two years.

They were equally divided to receive one of the three diets namely: low fat calorie restricted diet, Mediterranean calorie restricted diet or low carbohydrate diet with no restriction in calories. The low-fat diet used the American Heart Association guidelines with intake of 1500 kcal for women and 1800 kcal for men daily, with 30% of energy from fat, 10% from saturated fat, and 300 mg of cholesterol daily.

The Mediterranean diet had a high vegetable and low meat content with poultry and fish and similar amount of energy daily. The low-carbohydrate diet provided 20 g of carbohydrate daily for 2 months with an increase to 120 g per day.

Weight loss occurred in all the 3 groups over 2 years but was greatest in the Mediterranean and low carb diet. Men apparently lost more weight in the low carb diet and the women had the greatest weight loss in the Mediterranean diet. What was more striking was that the low carb diet has an added effect of decreasing the bad cholesterol, whereas, the Mediterranean diet lowered blood sugar levels.

This study just tells us that choosing the right diet should be tailored to individual needs and concerns and coupled with exercise, we are one step closer to our ideal weight.

Reference:
Shai I, Schwarzfuchs D, Henkin Y, et al. Weight loss with a low-carbohydrate, Mediterranean, or low-fat diet. New England Journal of Medicine. 2008;359:229-241.

About the author: Dra. Debbie is our Ka-Pinay health counselor.  She is a certified internist and a Fellow of the Philippine College of Physicians.

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