Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Obesity

Calories or content: what is the best weight-loss diet?

Researchers have randomly assigned 811 overweight adults to low-calorie diets with differing percentages of energy derived from protein, carbohydrate, and fat; participants were followed up for 2 years. All groups experienced modest weight loss and improvements in cardiac and diabetes risk factors. Does this finding mean that clinicians can finally advise their patients on the best way to lose weight?

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Tsai, A. G. & Wadden, T. A. Systematic review: an evaluation of major commercial weight loss programs in the United States. Ann. Intern. Med. 142, 56–66 (2005).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Morton, G. J., Cummings, D. E., Baskin, D. G., Barsh, G. S. & Schwartz, M. W. Central nervous system control of food intake and body weight. Nature 443, 289–295 (2006).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Sacks, F. M. et al. Comparison of weight-loss diets with different compositions of fat, protein, and carbohydrates. N. Engl. J. Med. 360, 859–873 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Ernst, N. D., Sempos, C. T., Briefel, R. R. & Clark, M. B. Consistency between US dietary fat intake and serum total cholesterol concentrations: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 66, S965–S972 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Dansinger, M. L., Gleason, J. A., Griffith, J. L., Selker, H. P. & Schaefer, E. J. Comparison of the Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers, and Zone diets for weight loss and heart disease risk reduction: a randomized trial. JAMA 293, 43–53 (2005).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Shai, I. et al. Weight loss with a low-carbohydrate, Mediterranean, or low-fat diet. N. Engl. J. Med. 359, 229–241 (2008).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Gardner, C. D. et al. Comparison of the Atkins, Zone, Ornish, and LEARN diets for change in weight and related risk factors among overweight premenopausal women: the A to Z Weight Loss Study: a randomized trial. JAMA 297, 969–977 (2007).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Knowler, W. C. et al. Reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with lifestyle intervention or metformin. N. Engl. J. Med. 346, 393–403 (2002).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Klem, M. L., Wing, R. R., McGuire, M. T., Seagle, H. M. & Hill, J. O. A descriptive study of individuals successful at long-term maintenance of substantial weight loss. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 66, 239–246 (1997).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Katan, M. B. Weight-loss diets for the prevention and treatment of obesity. N. Engl. J. Med. 360, 923–925 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jonathan Q. Purnell.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Purnell, J. Calories or content: what is the best weight-loss diet?. Nat Rev Endocrinol 5, 419–420 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2009.145

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2009.145

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing