At a
Glance:
Research shows that a low-glycemic diet relatively high in protein
is more effective at weight maintenance than a low-protein, high-glycemic
diet.
Read more
about this research below.
A study in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that a diet
relatively high in protein and low in refined carbohydrates is more successful
than other diets at maintaining weight loss.
Researchers enrolled overweight adults from eight European
countries who had lost at least 8% of their initial body weight with a low-calorie
diet. Participants were randomly assigned to one of five diets to prevent
weight regain over a 26-week period: a low-protein and low-GI (glycemic index)
diet, a low-protein and high-GI diet, a high-protein and low-GI diet, a
high-protein and high-GI diet, or a control diet based on the current European
dietary recommendations. The high protein diet provided 25 percent of calories
in the form of protein, while the low protein diet consisted of 13 percent
protein.
Five hundred forty-eight subjects completed six months on the
assigned diets. In the analysis of participants who completed the study, only
the low-protein/high-GI diet was associated with subsequent significant weight
regain (1.67 kg, or 3.6 lbs) by the end of the dietary intervention. Weight
regain was less in those who consumed high protein compared to low protein and
in low-GI diets compared to high-GI diets. A reduction in the glycemic index of
4.7 units resulted in a 0.95-kg difference in body weight between the
high-glycemic-index groups and the low-glycemic-index groups. High-GI foods
include white flour, white rice, and other refined carbohydrates.
This study shows that a modest increase in protein content and a
modest reduction in glycemic index can lead to an improvement in compliance and
maintenance of weight loss.
Larsen
TM, et al. Diets with High or Low
Protein Content and Glycemic Index for Weight-Loss Maintenance. 2010. N Engl J
Med 363:2102-13.
Source: USANA Health Sciences Essentials of Health
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