Heart-Healthy, Reduced Calorie Diets Promote Long-term Weight Loss

Heart-healthy diets that reduce calorie intake — regardless of differing proportions of fat, protein, or carbohydrate — can help overweight and obese adults achieve and maintain weight loss, according to a study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health, and published Feb. 26, 2009, in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Researchers from the Preventing Overweight Using Novel Dietary Strategies (POUNDS LOST) study found similar weight loss after six months and two years among participants assigned to four diets that differed in their proportions of these three major nutrients. The diets were low or high in total fat (20 or 40 percent of calories) with average or high protein (15 or 25 percent of calories). Carbohy drate content ranged from 35 to 65 percent of cal ories. The diets all used the same calorie reduction goals and were heart-healthy — low in saturated fat and cholesterol while high in dietary fi ber.

On average, participants lost 13 pounds at six months and maintained a 9 pound loss at two years. Participants also reduced their waistlines by 1 to 3 inches by the end of the study. Craving, full ness, hunger, and diet satisfaction were all similar across the four diets. U.S. Department of Health and Human Ser vices, National Institutes of Health News