EFN

You’ve heard the names before: Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers. For years companies have been enticing people to buy into their methods. Each one promises that their approach is the one that will finally help you shed those pounds.

A recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine indicates that the diet someone chooses is largely irrelevant. The finding of this controlled study, the largest ever conducted on weight-loss methods, is that the key element in losing weight is counting calories.

The study consisted of 800 overweight adults from Boston and Baton Rouge who were divided into four groups. Each group was assigned a different diet that reduced calories using different combinations of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. Participants also received either group or individual counseling.

After two years, each of the four groups had lost and regained roughly the same amount of weight. Overall, weight loss was modest with an average of 13 pounds at the six month mark and 9 pounds after two years. Most participants reverted to some of their old eating habits after a year.

The study shows that there really is no single diet that is the answer to weight loss. “It really does cut through the hype,” said Dr. Frank M. Sacks, the study’s lead author and a professor at Harvard. “It gives people lots of flexibility to pick a diet that they can stick with.  The effect of any particular diet group is minuscule, but the effect of individual behavior is humongous.”