Weight loss toss up between low carb, low fat: 12-month data compared.(Clinical Rounds)

New data show that after 1 year, low-carbohydrate dieters don't maintain the greater weight losses that they have at 6 months, compared with conventional low-fat, low-calorie dieters.

Results from a 1-year follow-up study by Dr. Linda Stern of the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center and colleagues extended 6-month data reported by coauthor Dr. Frederick F. Samaha. The researchers followed patients who had been randomized to either a diet containing 30 g or less of carbohydrates per day or a conventional diet with less than 30% of total caloric intake from fat and a deficit of 500 calories per day (Ann. Intern. Med. 140[10]:778-85, 2004).

After 1 year, total weight loss was similar in the two groups. The mean weight loss was 5.1 kg among the 44 people in the low-carbohydrate group and 3.1 kg among the 43 people in the conventional-diet group, a nonsignificant difference.

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