Which Way Works?

[shipperx]

So, back to 100 things...

High Carb/Low Fat or High Protein/Low Carb? Which works better for weight loss?

According to one study... it depends.

Interesting scientific analysis at the link.

Comments

[cindergal.livejournal.com]

Interesting! Thanks for linking that. He says at one point that most overweight people are in fact probably insulin resistant and would do better on the low carb diet, which makes sense. But I suspect he's talking about those who are significantly overweight. I wonder about people who have lesser amounts to lose. So many variables. I recently started tracking my food, and realized that the tracking websites typically set your macros at high carb/low fat ratios. I went in and changed mine to 40/30/30 (carbs/protein/fat). Not that I always hit that - it's hard for me to get enough protein and I usually go over on carbs - but it's something to shoot for.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Holy cow, what crazy posting thing has LJ done now???

Sorry. It's just when I opened to respond and LJ opened this weird posting screen ... wha???

Anyway, I wish fitnesspal would allow me to adjust some stuff, but if it can, I haven't found how.

Basically, I've been sticking with "avoid highly processed foods, artificial sweetners and reduce sugar" and then just counting calories. I find that I tend to choose fairly close to the standard rec. breakdown of carbs, fats, proteins. It's the tracking calories (and avoiding sugar) that's the primary challenge.

[cindergal.livejournal.com]

Anyway, I wish fitnesspal would allow me to adjust some stuff, but if it can, I haven't found how.

Oh, you can! I use myfitnesspal, too. It took me forever (and someone showing me) to figure it out. You go to home, goals, and then click on "change goals" at the bottom of the page, and you can edit from there.

But in general, I think your plan is a good one. Eat real food, not too much. :-)

And yes, LJ has started to implement their threatened promised changes, I see. Yay. :-/

[ww1614.livejournal.com]

I hate to ask this but ... any chance you could summarize the takeaway points? I have become incapable of processing info via watching YouTube videos. I can watch to be entertained, but not to take in info.

Or point me to a written study that's referred to?

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I'd have to go back to look at the studies to know the links.

Final conclusion by the scientist doing the study was that it's possible to succeed or fail on any of the diets studied and that they had similar rates of success or failure. In the end it basically boils down to calories.

The only significant data point seemed to be that those who began with insulin resistance had a slightly better success the low carb approach (but this difference didn't extend to those who were not insulin resistant, in which case it was roughly equal). The slight uptick in success for the insulin resistant comprised the statistic advantage that the low carb diets had in the results, so if you're pre-diabetic, low carb does seem slightly more viable. Other than that, though, they were all roughly equal.

In the end, few -- if any -- actually maintained either the extreme low fat diet or the extreme low carb diet in the long term. By the end of 18 months all had significantly raised the amout of the restricted nutrient to something closer to the normally suggested dietary standards.

Success/failure seemed more closely a reflection of the calorie intake than what form of diet they chose.

And all were healthier at a lower weight, so long term effects of the different approaches were also roughly equal.

[ww1614.livejournal.com]

OK, thanks!