Weight-Loss Diet Studies: Is the Most Rigorous Trial To Date Generalizable to Public Health?

• Published in: Current cardiovascular risk reports 2010-03, Vol.4 (2), p.86-88
• Main Authors: Nelson, Mindy Dopler, Otten, Jennifer, Oelrich, Beibei, Gardner, Christopher
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Behavior; Biomarkers; Calories; Carbohydrates; Cardiology; Clinical Trial Report; Counseling; Diet; Exercise; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Obesity; Overweight; Proteins; Public health
• ISSN: 1932-9520; 1932-9563
• DOI: 10.1007/s12170-010-0086-8

Specifically, they extended the length of the study to 2 years; recruited a diverse population with respect to age, income, and geography; enrolled a large percentage of men (40%); retained 80% of the sample; extensively assessed dietary adherence; blinded study staff to diet assignment; and attempted to address questions about high fat versus low fat, high protein versus low protein, and high carbohydrate versus low carbohydrate in a single trial with sufficient statistical power. A novel potential strategy would be to choose a target diet composition of clinical interest to be maintained at the end of a study protocol, and then design the intervention diets to be initiated with more extreme differences in composition (ie, an induction phase), such that when the inevitable decrease in adherence occurs, what remains at the end of the protocol is still an important and worthwhile set of dietary comparisons. Comparison of the Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers, and Zone diets for weight loss and heart disease risk reduction: a randomized trial. Effects of a low-glycemic load vs low-fat diet in obese young adults: a randomized trial.