Diet: points victory for the quick number

All content is checked by medical journalists.

MunichUp until now, people thought: If you drop the pounds quickly, you will gain them again just as quickly. But the opposite is the case, an Australian study has now shown. According to this, people who lose weight not only lose more pounds, they keep the new weight after the diet just as well as those who lose weight. That applies at least to very overweight people.

A total of 200 test subjects took part in the study by Katrina Purcell and her colleagues from the University of Melbourne. All of the test subjects were obese, i.e. very overweight, with a BMI (Body Mass Index) between 30 and 45. The scientists randomly divided them into two groups: Group one was prescribed a fast diet. For twelve weeks, members were only allowed to consume 450 to 800 kilocalories per day. The group two diet lasted 36 weeks. The participants only had to reduce their calorie consumption by 500 kcal per day. This corresponds to common diet guidelines.

The goal of the diet was to lose 12.5 percent weight. This was easier for the participants with the fast diet (group 1): 81 percent of them managed it. Of the slow-downers (group two), on the other hand, it was only 50 percent. All participants who achieved the test goal were enrolled in a weight control program for an additional three years. "Surprisingly, slow and steady weight loss did not win the race," says first author Katrina Purcell.

Quick success motivates

Contrary to what the researchers expected, the participants in group one did not regain weight more frequently or faster than those in group two after the diet. In both cases, the weight gain averaged 71 percent of the original pounds lost in the three years following the program. "The assumption that quick weight loss is also quickly re-fed is not tenable," explains Purcell. But why is that? Purcell and colleagues believe that seeing quick wins is more motivated to keep going.

The study could have implications for physician-guided diet programs. “It is unnecessary to curb the euphoria of patients who lose weight very quickly and to make them lose weight more slowly,” says Purcell. (away)

Source: Katrina Purcell et al .: The effect of rate of weight loss on long-term weight management: a randomized controlled trial, The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, October 16, 2014.

Tags:  therapies news drugs