As people set new year’s resolutions that involve losing weight, it is time to have a look at all the latest data regarding some of the most popular diets. Currently, it seems to be a battle between the low-carb and low-fat diets. Both of which can be considered contradictory to each other regarding fat consumption.
Usually, a low-carb diet concentrates on cutting down carbohydrate consumption and replacing those lost carbs with fats in order to trigger ketosis within the body that leads to weight loss. The low-fat diet, on the other hand, drastically restricts the amount of fat one can consume in order to lose weight.
So, which is the best diet for you?
According to KSL, there were two major studies released last year regarding these polarizing two diets. One of these studies, which was reported on earlier in the year by the Inquisitr, studied the effects of a low-carb diet in 164 participants and found that people who used a low-carb diet for weight loss could also look forward to burning more calories while in a resting state.
During this study, food intake was strictly controlled with the participants and the study didn’t actually concentrate on weight loss while on this diet. In fact, participants had their food consumption changed in order to maintain a particular weight so that the effects of the diet could be studied and not how effective it was for weight loss.
David Ludwig, who was a lead author of the paper as well as a researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital, suggests that it might be easier for people to maintain weight loss while on this diet. So, once you have dropped the pounds, it could be easier to stay at your required weight while on a low-carb diet. In addition, the study also suggested that this diet could be most beneficial for those with diabetes or pre-diabetes.
Of course, a low carb diet is usually high in fat in order to provide the body with fuel. And this contradicts advice that has been given for many years regarding the dangers of consuming large quantities of fat.
The basis behind restricting fat centers on the fact that “a gram of fat has twice as many calories than the same amount of carbs or protein,” according to KSL. However, this has led to many people choosing low-fat alternatives and many of these foods marketed as low fat can actually contain a lot of refined sugar, which is not good for anyone.
The second big nutritional study this year actually compared the two diets — low carb and low-fat — and discovered that both diets can be considered equally effective when it comes to weight loss. While the effects of each diet varied from person to person, this new study found that, on average, people lost approximately 12 to 13 pounds over the span of a year on each diet.
A researcher in the second study that compared the two diets suggested that it is possible for people to lose weight on either diet. Therefore, personal preference could be a determining factor as people decide which diet is best for them entering the new year. They also suggested that, overall, regardless of which diet was selected, people should aim to “focus on minimally processed foods like produce and meat prepared at home,” according to KSL. In addition, researchers advised people to limit their daily intake of sugar and refined flour.
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