Diet Study in NEJM

In the New England Journal of Medicine this week there's a study out of Harvard that compares different diets based on macronutrient (protein, fat, carbs).

Why was the study was done?
There have been many studies on the effectiveness of different diets, but researchers don't know well weight-loss advantages of these diets when compared head-to-head.

How was the study was done?
Researches took about 800 overweight adults and assigned them to 1 of 4 diets for 2 years.

1. low fat, average protein
2. low fat, high protein
3. high fat, average protein
4. high fat, high protein

• All the diets were reduced-calorie diets based on the person's weight, with carbs filling out the remaining calories (so a 250 lb. person would have the same daily calories regardless of diet type).
• Dieters where given a menu of recommended foods and kept a dairy for actual food consumed.
• All the diets were consistent with heart-healthy daily amounts of saturated fats and cholesterol.
• Weight loss and waist circumference were measured.

What did the study show?

• After 6 months, average weight loss was 6 kg (13 lbs), or 7% of body weight, regardless of diet type.
• Weight was regained for most people after 12 months.
• Satiety, hunger, and satisfaction were similar for all diets.
• All diets lowered cholesterol.

Bottom line
Weight loss is not related to diet type but to calorie intake.

My comment

• Don't stress about diet fads, just focus on reducing your total calories and be consistent.
• Although you may loose weight with just calorie counting, there are other health benefits besides weight with diets high in fruits in veggies

Good thing we got the DNA on those birds.

A scientist investigating the question of what species of birds the US Airways plane hit before crashing into the Hudson said the team was pretty confident of the species based on gross visual inspection of the feathers, etc., and other historical information. And, thankfully, this was all confirmed with a fancy DNA test just to be sure. Because we need that.

A DNA test? Is this THAT important?

Apply this same scenario to the millions of diagnoses and medical decisions made every day in medicine involving wiz-bang gadgets, and you get some sense of one thing that drives medical costs - our addiction to technology and compulsion to use it, regardless of necessity or cost or outcome.