Some advocates of low-carbohydrate diets say that such diets promote increased energy expenditure, but this claim has not been formally tested, until now.
To investigate, University of Cinncinnati researchers randomly assigned 50 moderately obese women to a low-carbohydrate diet group or a low-fat diet group. Only the low-fat group was told to restrict their caloric intake. Forty women completed the study.
By the end of the four-month study, women in both groups had lost weight and body fat, the researchers report in this month's issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. However, the low-carbohydrate group lost more than 10 percent of their body weight, while the low-fat group lost about 7 percent.
Specifically, the low-carbohydrate group lost 9.8 kilograms (21.6 pounds) of weight and 6.2 kilograms (13.7 pounds) of body fat, while the low-fat group lost about 6.1 kilograms (13 pounds) of weight and 3.2 kilograms (7 pounds) of body fat, the report indicates.
"These results confirm that short-term weight loss is greater in obese women on a low-carbohydrate diet than in those on a low-fat diet even when reported food intake is similar," according to researchers.
SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, March 2005
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