Int J Obes (Lond). 2006; 30: 552-60
Petersen M, Taylor MA, Saris WH et al.
Some authors report that the percentage of fat in a diet would not influence weight loss results as long as the number of calories was kept low. To investigate whether a low-calorie low-fat diet is superior to a low-calorie high-fat diet, scientists from the Institute of Human Nutrition, Copenhagen, recently published results from a large trial involving 8 European centres.
A 10-week dietary intervention comparing two diets with a fat energy percent of 20-25% or 40-45% was prescribed to 771 obese adult subjects (Body Mass Index 30 kg/m or above).
The authors reported that the average weight loss was 6.9 kg in the low-fat group and 6.6 kg in the high-fat group. Drop-out was 13.6% in the low-fat group and 18.3% in the high-fat group. Among completers, more subjects lost more than 10% of their original body weight in the low-fat group than in the high-fat group (20.8% versus 14.7%). Blood cholestrerol and fat levels decreased in both groups, but more so in the low-fat group than in the high-fat group.
The group concluded that the low-fat diet produced similar mean weight loss as the high-fat diet, but resulted in more subjects losing more than 10% of initial body weight with fewer drop-outs. Both diets produced favourable changes in blood cholesterol and fat levels. Low fat diets therefore increase the chances of achieving at least a 10% weight loss which is the recommended amount by experts in order to reduce risk of other diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.
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