Those launching a weight loss regimen are smart to ask, “Which works best?” And they’ll be stunned to discover, it’s rare for the popular diet plans to report statistical results.
It’s pretty easy for any diet to find a single case study or famous celebrity and make a single spokesperson out of them. This is the approach most diet programs take, then they market the individual story as evidence of how well it all works. The individual celebrity case, is usually very different from the average user’s experience.
With so much riding on a diet program’s success, it leaves you wondering why diet programs and products don’t do many studies. Unfortunately, it’s looking more like the reasons are because the results are less than impressive. Of the clinical studies we found from a variety of research journals, some diets seem to maintain only a precious few pounds of weight loss results after one or two years.
There are statistics and reports on what diets work best, but it takes some clever searching to find them. There aren’t a lot of diet studies relative to other research, but this article covers some of the clearest reports.
One of the diet programs that reports statistics is Weight Watchers. This is likely because participants weigh-in as part of the program. Gathering data that is statistically valid, and can stand up to the regimen required for accurate reporting is easier when your whole program is built around weigh-ins that happen in person.
A study published in the British Medical Journal in May of 2006 compared the effectiveness of four popular diet programs, Atkins, Weight Watchers, SlimFast and Rosemary Conley (a popular U.K. diet guru). After eight weeks, participants in the Weight Watchers group lost an average of 2.16 inches in waist measurement, those on Atkins lost an average 2.63 inches in their waists, SlimFast users lost an average of 1.88 inches in waist measurement, and Rosemary Conley dieters lost 1.77 inches.
Participants in a pilot study of Zonital International’s Zburn fat burning product, created an average loss of 2.5 inches in waist measurements in just two weeks. By comparison, that’s a more aggressive loss than the results in the British study. Participants in the Zburn study experienced fat loss as measured by reduced body circumference measurements in several places, waist, hips, chest, neck and thighs.
One to two pounds per week is considered healthy weight loss by the CDC and FDA. Several of the programs in the British study, and the Zburn results created “healthy” weight loss for participants.
Additional studies on the subject of weight loss offer varying results measured in a variety of ways. Considering that muscle weighs more than fat, and exercise programs may be part of a weight loss effort, changes in body circumference measurements can be a great way of measuring results.
In February of 2006, a study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, compared low car and high protein diets, with low fat diets, and higher carb versions. The study did not compare branded commercial programs, just the different types of diet structures. The study’s conclusion was that “reduced-calorie” were what made the difference and created, “meaningful weight loss” regardless of the type of food and nutrient focus.
Taking into account info from a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, June 2007, the Daily Beast website ranked Volumetrics as #1 in effectiveness. The Volumetrics eating plan features lots of fruits and veggies, or food with high water volume content, giving these foods more “volume” and making the diet seem more filling.
A study reported on CBS news, and published in the Annals of Internal Medicine January 4, 2005, confirmed the overall consensus; that diet product success statistics are rare, and the results which can be confirmed are disappointing, if you have visions of famous spokespeople’s results in your heads. Average weight loss on Weight Watchers may surprise you. The study concluded there is documentation that Weight Watchers participants lost on average, around 5 percent of their initial weight (or about 10 pounds), in six months and kept off about half of it two years later. As for other popular diet plans, there was simply not enough verifiable data.
In October 2007, a study was published by the American Dietetic Association, which measured nutritional value of some well-known diet programs. Ornish, Weight Watchers High Carbohydrate, and New Glucose Revolution were ranked number 1, 2 and 3 in this study. It’s important to note that these rankings were not for weight loss results specifically, but were for nutritional content. This info is of value, even if it doesn’t measure pounds lost.
Few of the most popular commercial diet plans themselves – with the exception of Weight Watchers and Zburn – seem to offer any statistical evidence of how well they work on average or typically, from their own studies. The FTC is now requiring diet plans that use a spokesperson quoting their weight loss, to also disclose what “typical” results are, because those spokesperson results are very non-typical. Look for these required disclosures in the tiny, tiny fine print as you evaluate the best diet choice for you.
To do an internet search of diet results yourself, use a search engine and type in things like “published research studies – diets” or the diet product’s name, and combine it with “research” or “success statistics”. New studies are constantly happening, and it’s worth an updated search when you begin any diet plan.
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