Lifestyle Changes Trump Diets

58Rock

I have mentioned lifestyle change to a lot of people. I recently wrote that for any reduction in weight to become permanent there has to be some permanent change in one’s lifestyle. Here is some documented proof that simply focusing on particular macronutrients without lifestyle change will simply not work long term.

Based on an editorial published August 20 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA):

Two researchers Sherry Pagoto of the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Mass., and Bradley Appelhans of the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago call for an end to the so-called diet wars, because they are all equally as good, or bad, in helping people fight obesity. In the end, patients only get confused thinking that one diet is superior to another, they said, :drinker: when in fact changes in lifestyle, not diet types, are the true ways to prevent weight gain and the associated ills of diabetes and circulatory disease.

"The amount of resources that have gone into studying 'what' to eat is incredible, and years of research indicate that it doesn't really matter, as long as overall calories are reduced," Appelhans told LiveScience. "What does matter is 'how' to eat, as well as other things in lifestyle interventions, such as physical activity and supportive behaviors that help people stay on track [in the] long term."The researchers cite numerous studies that demonstrated :drinker: only moderate success with various types of diet that focus on macronutrients: protein, fat or carbohydrates; but regardless of diet, without a lifestyle change, the weight comes back.

Conversely, several large and recent studies such as the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study and the China Da Qing Diabetes Prevention Study found lower weight and lower incidence of diabetes among study participants many years after the study's initial completion because the subjects were taught how to lose weight through lifestyle interventions.Indeed, the authors wrote that the only consistent fact in all the diet studies is that adherence is the element most strongly associated with weight loss and disease risk reduction.

Pagoto described five challenges to any diet that she sees with her patients: having no time to cook or exercise; being too stressed out, having family members bring junk food home; not having anyone to exercise with, or feeling awkward exercising; and feel hungry all the time. :drinker: The ratio of fat to carb to protein doesn't come into play.

CHANGE YOUR LIFE-CHANGE YOUR WEIGHT