Weight Loss Most Easily Achieved With High-Protein, Low-GI Diet - New Study

A major study conducted at the faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Copenhagen has concluded that the diet to follow that is best for weight loss and for keeping the weight off is a diet high in proteins and low on the glycemic index scale. The study recommends eating more lean meat, beans, and reduced fat dairy items, and at the same time, strictly reducing foods like white bread and white rice that contain refined sugars and starch.

The massive study’s aim was to find the most ideal diet for controlling and even preventing obesity in people. Eight European research institutes took part in the study headed by Thomas Meinart, PhD and Professor Arne Astrup of the University of Copenhagen. Their results were published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The Diogenes study revealed that currently, official dietary suggestions are not ideal for controlling weight gain on already overweight individuals. Diets with more protein foods and lower refined sugar foods are most helpful in aiding formerly overweight people to keep the weight from returning.

All 938 overweight adults were placed on a 800-kcal per day diet for eight weeks before the real diet tests began. Those who made it through the eight weeks were randomly assigned one of five six-month diet groups. The average weight loss was 11 kg on the 800-calorie per day diet with an average weight regain after 6 months of .5kg over all diet groups.

The five diet groups were as follows:

- a low protein, high glycemic index group (GI group);
- a high protein, low GI group;
- a high protein, high GI group;
- a low protein, low GI; and,
- a control group that generally followed official dietary recommendations.

People on the high protein, low glycemic index diet were more likely to stick with the program over six months. Those in the low protein, high glycemic index diet were more likely not to finish and had an average weight gain after six months of 1.67 kg.