A great deal of today’s people are looking for effective diet plans and other weight management techniques which would help them shed extra pounds and decrease the risks of many serious diseases. However, for some people their weight reduction efforts are sometimes put to just simple cut on fats or carbs, and even some share of proteins. Is this strategy effective? According to the findings of a latest study, calorie counting can be a key point, but it seems like it does not matter much where the calories come from. Therefore, simple calorie counting and limiting our daily calorie consumption regardless of their source can be effective enough to put off weight.

The study was carried out by a group of experts at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and led by Dr. George Bray. For the trials, several hundred participants with extra weight, both males and females, were invited. The participants were randomly assigned to one of the groups offered one of the following types of diet:

• High protein, high fat, and low carbs;
• High protein, low fat and high carbs;
• Average protein, high fat and low carbs;
• Average protein, low fat and high carbs.

At that, every diet was created to cut down about 750 calories a day. The participants were monitored after 6 months right after the diet, and then within 2 years after the end of the experiment. It turned out that for six months of using all types of the stated diets, they managed to get rid of 9 lbs of fat and about 5 lbs of lean mass. In two years, the participants managed to lose 8 lbs of fat in average, including 3 lbs of abdomen fat. At that there were no serious differences in weight loss degree between the members of the groups assigned to different types of diets.

Thus, simple watching your calorie consumption can be effective for weight management and improving your BMI, but you can choose the type of diet which is more appropriate for you. “If you’re happier doing it low fat, or happier doing it low carb, this paper says it’s OK to do it either way. They were equally successful,” one of the study participants commented in the report. It can be more important to stick with a certain type of diet rather than eliminate fats or carbs completely. Read more about calorie counting and the findings of this interesting study in the latest issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Author Info: Hi! My name is Carla and I am a 5th year medical student at HYMS. I am interested in alternative medicine and I have done months researching the topic of herbal medicine. Besides, I like interviewing people and learning more about their experiences with one or another type of herbal treatments. I am willing to contribute to this site with my knowledge, and I would be happy to help you out to the best of my ability with any specific questions or problems related to alternative medicine.

One Response to “For Effective Weight Management, Always Practice Calorie Counting”

1. Angle Says:
   February 1st, 2012 at 11:15 am

   Nice post. Very informative and interesting post.This is very useful for who want to lead natural healthy life.