Health Impact News Editor Comments: This is not news to many of us who have known this truth for years, but here is yet another study showing the myth that low-fat diets lead to weight loss. Lack of healthy saturated fats in the diet leads to increased hunger and a tendency to replace fats with refined carbohydrates. Limiting carbs and returning to healthy saturated fats, such as coconut oil, along with dairy and meats from grass-fed animals, is what is needed to stop the obesity epidemic in our modern society.

Obesity Journal
Nature.com

Change in Food Cravings, Food Preferences, and Appetite During a Low-Carbohydrate and Low-Fat Diet

Corby K. Martin1, Diane Rosenbaum2, Hongmei Han1, Paula J. Geiselman1,3, Holly R. Wyatt4, James O. Hill4, Carrie Brill4, Brooke Bailer2, Bernard V. Miller III5, Rick Stein5, Sam Klein5 and Gary D. Foster2

  1. 1Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
  2. 2Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
  3. 3Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
  4. 4University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado, USA
  5. 5Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri, USA

Correspondence: Corby K. Martin (martinck@pbrc.edu)

Received 2 September 2010; Accepted 20 February 2011; Published online 14 April 2011.

Abstract

The study objective was to evaluate the effect of prescribing a low-carbohydrate diet (LCD) and a low-fat diet (LFD) on food cravings, food preferences, and appetite. Obese adults were randomly assigned to a LCD (n = 134) or a LFD (n = 136) for 2 years. Cravings for specific types of foods (sweets, high-fats, fast-food fats, and carbohydrates/starches); preferences for high-sugar, high-carbohydrate, and low-carbohydrate/high-protein foods; and appetite were measured during the trial and evaluated during this secondary analysis of trial data. Differences between the LCD and LFD on change in outcome variables were examined with mixed linear models. Compared to the LFD, the LCD had significantly larger decreases in cravings for carbohydrates/starches and preferences for high-carbohydrate and high-sugar foods. The LCD group reported being less bothered by hunger compared to the LFD group. Compared to the LCD group, the LFD group had significantly larger decreases in cravings for high-fat foods and preference for low-carbohydrate/high-protein foods. Men had larger decreases in appetite ratings compared to women. Prescription of diets that promoted restriction of specific types of foods resulted in decreased cravings and preferences for the foods that were targeted for restriction. The results also indicate that the LCD group was less bothered by hunger compared to the LFD group and that men had larger reductions in appetite compared to women.

Read the full article here: http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/oby201162a.html

Published on April 16, 2011