Researchers find that keeping weight off is easier with a little
outside help. New research shows that professional assistance can help
people-and especially women-stick to their diets.
By
Jason Williams, published on April 01, 2003 - last reviewed on April 16, 2012
Want to know how to lose weight and keep it off? This popular
question, posed in countless dieting slogans, may finally have been
answered: New research shows that professional assistance can help
people-and especially women-stick to their diets.
In a recent study conducted by the American Dietetic Association,
the world's largest organization of food and nutrition experts,
researchers found that women who attempt to create and adhere to a
healthy diet are more likely to succeed when they work with a health
professional than when they go it alone.
"The [Women's Health Initiative] intervention resulted in
substantial reductions in fat intake," the researchers wrote in The
Journal of the Dietetic Association. Using data collected from more than
12,000 participants in the national WHI Dietary Modification Trial, they
identified the types of fat each woman consumed and then monitored them
over a two-year period to see how closely they followed a prescribed
low-fat diet.
After one year, women who consulted with a professional to modify
their diet reduced their fat intake from 38.5 percent of total calories
consumed to 24.3 percent. Women who did not receive professional help,
however, took in 35.7 percent of their calories from fat. After two
years, both groups increased their fat consumption by about 1
percent.
In addition, those who did receive counseling admitted that added
fats-such as butter and oils-and meats were the most difficult foods to
avoid. "These two food groups contributed almost half of all dietary fat
consumed" before professional intervention, and they were the main source
of fat that participants added back into their diets after the first
year, the researchers report.
Ultimately, the study findings suggest that avoiding added fats is
the key dietary change for maintaining a low-fat diet and long-term
weight loss. To reduce intake of added fats, researchers suggest eating
smaller portions and modifying cooking methods.
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