ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS COUNT CALORIES?
Dave198lbs
Posts: 8,810 Member
BEWARE THE MISLEADING MEDIA...WHY DO THEY DO IT?
A new two-year study funded by the National Institutes of Health and recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that it’s not what you eat that matters on a diet, but rather how many calories you consume each day. The media is now reporting on this study in a way that is misleading, implying that all you have to do is cut calories to lose weight and that it doesn’t matter how you do it.
It is the quality of the calories that you take in that naturally leads to appropriate hunger satisfaction. Generally, if you are enjoying meals consisting of lean protein, good fats, and nutrient-dense, fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains, you will naturally feel satisfied and have no desire to overeat. Invariably this means you’ll take in fewer calories overall—no counting necessary.
1. As it turns out, all the diet groups in the reported study were urged to eat similar foods that had very little saturated fat (8% or less), were low in cholesterol (150 mg or less for every 1000 calories), and were relatively high in fiber (20 grams of fiber per day). Carbohydrate-rich foods with a low glycemic index were also recommended. (Low glycemic index foods are those that release their sugars more slowly, and thus don’t cause blood sugar to rise and fall quickly, thereby helping to control cravings.) Missing from this study was a control group eating foods reflective of the typical American diet high in refined sugar, saturated fat, and processed foods.
Thus, all the participants were essentially eating a nutrient-dense, fiber-rich, heart-healthy diet, which is exactly what we recommend on the . (It was also recommended that the dieters in all groups exercise moderately for 90 minutes weekly, also in line with the principles of the .)
But while the researchers had targets for differences in the macronutrients (in other words, the amount of fat, protein, and carbs recommended varied among the diet groups), in reality these dietary goals were only partially achieved. In the final analysis, the differences in macronutrient intake were too small for the study authors to make a definitive conclusion that composition of a diet doesn't really matter. And yet, they did just that. And that’s how some news outlets have been reporting this information.
Learning to make the right food choices most of the time is what transforms a diet into a lifestyle, and that ultimately leads to permanent weight loss and better health for life. Dr. Agatston encourages you to stick with the proven principles of the , get at least 20 minutes of aerobic or core exercise daily (he actually recommends a bit more exercise than the study did), utilize the for support and motivation, and celebrate your individual successes each and every day.
A new two-year study funded by the National Institutes of Health and recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that it’s not what you eat that matters on a diet, but rather how many calories you consume each day. The media is now reporting on this study in a way that is misleading, implying that all you have to do is cut calories to lose weight and that it doesn’t matter how you do it.
It is the quality of the calories that you take in that naturally leads to appropriate hunger satisfaction. Generally, if you are enjoying meals consisting of lean protein, good fats, and nutrient-dense, fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains, you will naturally feel satisfied and have no desire to overeat. Invariably this means you’ll take in fewer calories overall—no counting necessary.
1. As it turns out, all the diet groups in the reported study were urged to eat similar foods that had very little saturated fat (8% or less), were low in cholesterol (150 mg or less for every 1000 calories), and were relatively high in fiber (20 grams of fiber per day). Carbohydrate-rich foods with a low glycemic index were also recommended. (Low glycemic index foods are those that release their sugars more slowly, and thus don’t cause blood sugar to rise and fall quickly, thereby helping to control cravings.) Missing from this study was a control group eating foods reflective of the typical American diet high in refined sugar, saturated fat, and processed foods.
Thus, all the participants were essentially eating a nutrient-dense, fiber-rich, heart-healthy diet, which is exactly what we recommend on the . (It was also recommended that the dieters in all groups exercise moderately for 90 minutes weekly, also in line with the principles of the .)
But while the researchers had targets for differences in the macronutrients (in other words, the amount of fat, protein, and carbs recommended varied among the diet groups), in reality these dietary goals were only partially achieved. In the final analysis, the differences in macronutrient intake were too small for the study authors to make a definitive conclusion that composition of a diet doesn't really matter. And yet, they did just that. And that’s how some news outlets have been reporting this information.
Learning to make the right food choices most of the time is what transforms a diet into a lifestyle, and that ultimately leads to permanent weight loss and better health for life. Dr. Agatston encourages you to stick with the proven principles of the , get at least 20 minutes of aerobic or core exercise daily (he actually recommends a bit more exercise than the study did), utilize the for support and motivation, and celebrate your individual successes each and every day.
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Replies
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BEWARE THE MISLEADING MEDIA...WHY DO THEY DO IT?
A new two-year study funded by the National Institutes of Health and recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that it’s not what you eat that matters on a diet, but rather how many calories you consume each day. The media is now reporting on this study in a way that is misleading, implying that all you have to do is cut calories to lose weight and that it doesn’t matter how you do it.
It is the quality of the calories that you take in that naturally leads to appropriate hunger satisfaction. Generally, if you are enjoying meals consisting of lean protein, good fats, and nutrient-dense, fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains, you will naturally feel satisfied and have no desire to overeat. Invariably this means you’ll take in fewer calories overall—no counting necessary.
1. As it turns out, all the diet groups in the reported study were urged to eat similar foods that had very little saturated fat (8% or less), were low in cholesterol (150 mg or less for every 1000 calories), and were relatively high in fiber (20 grams of fiber per day). Carbohydrate-rich foods with a low glycemic index were also recommended. (Low glycemic index foods are those that release their sugars more slowly, and thus don’t cause blood sugar to rise and fall quickly, thereby helping to control cravings.) Missing from this study was a control group eating foods reflective of the typical American diet high in refined sugar, saturated fat, and processed foods.
Thus, all the participants were essentially eating a nutrient-dense, fiber-rich, heart-healthy diet, which is exactly what we recommend on the . (It was also recommended that the dieters in all groups exercise moderately for 90 minutes weekly, also in line with the principles of the .)
But while the researchers had targets for differences in the macronutrients (in other words, the amount of fat, protein, and carbs recommended varied among the diet groups), in reality these dietary goals were only partially achieved. In the final analysis, the differences in macronutrient intake were too small for the study authors to make a definitive conclusion that composition of a diet doesn't really matter. And yet, they did just that. And that’s how some news outlets have been reporting this information.
Learning to make the right food choices most of the time is what transforms a diet into a lifestyle, and that ultimately leads to permanent weight loss and better health for life. Dr. Agatston encourages you to stick with the proven principles of the , get at least 20 minutes of aerobic or core exercise daily (he actually recommends a bit more exercise than the study did), utilize the for support and motivation, and celebrate your individual successes each and every day.0 -
Is this the article/study in question?
Cutting calories key to weight loss: study
By AFP - Thu Feb 26, 8:42 AM PST
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Eating heart-healthy, low-calorie foods and exercising is the key to losing weight regardless of levels of protein, fat or carbohydrates, a new study has found.
The research, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health, seems to argue against blanket use of diets that do not necessarily limit calories but call for eating certain foods such as vegetables or proteins, at the expense of others.
The NIH study of 811 volunteers, 38 percent of them men and 62 percent women, aged 30-70 and either overweight or obese, looked at diets that have been popular in the United States in recent years, even as the number of obese Americans has soared.
The "Preventing Overweight Using Novel Dietary Strategies (POUNDS LOST) study found similar weight loss after six months and two years among participants assigned to four diets that differed in their proportions of these three major nutrients," said researchers.
"The diets were low or high in total fat (20 or 40 percent of calories) with average or high protein (15 or 25 percent of calories). Carbohydrate content ranged from 35 to 65 percent of calories.
"The diets all used the same calorie reduction goals and were heart-healthy low in saturated fat and cholesterol while high in dietary fibre," said researchers, whose study is published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Participants lost an average 13 pounds (5.9 kilos) at six months and maintained a nine-pound (four-kilo) loss at two years.
"These results show that, as long as people follow a heart-healthy, reduced-calorie diet, there is more than one nutritional approach to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight," said Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, director at NHLBI.
"This provides people who need to lose weight with the flexibility to choose an approach that they're most likely to sustain: one that is most suited to their personal preferences and health needs," she stressed.
Sixty-six percent of US adults are overweight and of those, 32 percent are obese, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show.0 -
Dave the other problem with their study results is they forgot to report the cases like mine. I was one of their study subjects in the Summer of 1979 when I was 4-5 I turned 5 in the hospital(NIH Bethesda,MD) while part of this study. Funny how they forgot to mention test subjects like me who didn't fit their mold. They first lowered my calories to 350 (remember I weighed 150 at the time and was about 4'9" I was a real exception to their rules to begin with) I was also on exercise with a registered PT several times daily and the only thing I ate came from them. I gained weight the first week and so they continued thinking it was just a fluke then I gained the second week. So they decided to try a different method and went back up in calories to about 1000 but did extremely low fat like Pritikin's. I gained weight again. By this time my mom was saying well if you are going to make her fatter I'll just take her home. SO they said they wanted to try one more thing. They dropped me to basically zero carb. Lean meat and lettuce salads, dill pickles(which I hated for years), and no other veggies and no fruit, eggs and more meat for breakfast. I dropped 18 pounds in the two remaining weeks in the hospital. The doctors were very surprised by this. Of course by this time I had no energy and my hair was quite lifeless as I had had no vegetables or fruits and so no energy. My mom told them their version of the diet was too strict for a 5 year old and unless they were buying our groceries, too expensive to maintain. Mom was leaving my dad at the time because he was abusive and a single mom can't affford a lot of meat. Many times we had pancakes for dinner because it was what we had. But my point is why do these supposed medical studies always only print and publish what they want and never the exceptions or true results. I am sure there are hundreds of people out there like me that are the exception to their study and feel like failures because these "proven" methods don't work for them. Okay my book is done LOL!:laugh: Thanks for posting this!:drinker:0
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yes - I saw that study outlined at www.nlm.nih.gov (national library of medicine at NIH)0
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Dave the other problem with their study results is they forgot to report the cases like mine. I was one of their study subjects in the Summer of 1979 when I was 4-5 I turned 5 in the hospital(NIH Bethesda,MD) while part of this study. Funny how they forgot to mention test subjects like me who didn't fit their mold. They first lowered my calories to 350 (remember I weighed 150 at the time and was about 4'9" I was a real exception to their rules to begin with) I was also on exercise with a registered PT several times daily and the only thing I ate came from them. I gained weight the first week and so they continued thinking it was just a fluke then I gained the second week. So they decided to try a different method and went back up in calories to about 1000 but did extremely low fat like Pritikin's. I gained weight again. By this time my mom was saying well if you are going to make her fatter I'll just take her home. SO they said they wanted to try one more thing. They dropped me to basically zero carb. Lean meat and lettuce salads, dill pickles(which I hated for years), and no other veggies and no fruit, eggs and more meat for breakfast. I dropped 18 pounds in the two remaining weeks in the hospital. The doctors were very surprised by this. Of course by this time I had no energy and my hair was quite lifeless as I had had no vegetables or fruits and so no energy. My mom told them their version of the diet was too strict for a 5 year old and unless they were buying our groceries, too expensive to maintain. Mom was leaving my dad at the time because he was abusive and a single mom can't affford a lot of meat. Many times we had pancakes for dinner because it was what we had. But my point is why do these supposed medical studies always only print and publish what they want and never the exceptions or true results. I am sure there are hundreds of people out there like me that are the exception to their study and feel like failures because these "proven" methods don't work for them. Okay my book is done LOL!:laugh: Thanks for posting this!:drinker:
thanks Amy....
it scares me that the media and the studies can slant things...and since we see it on the news or the talk shows or reported somewhere we accept it...I say question everything...you dont have to be a doubter but make sure you are informed before making a decision...sorry for that about your Dad
Dave0 -
I suppose really what is key here and what we all know on this site at this stage is that there are no short cuts - you want to lose weight, you eat healthily and exercise. I ditched the chicken legs last night Dave you'll be glad to hear! I was looking for a short cut - sticking to eating what I knew to be bad but looking for ways around it.
The media just publishes what people want to hear - if all the magazines and papers just repeated the same old dieting information people would stop buying them. Headlines like 'eat what you like and still lose weight!!' are what sells unfortunately. Weight loss is a multi million euro/ dollar business and if everyone knew that, there would probably be much more healthy folk around.0 -
I got an even better dad out of the deal my sperm donor was always a mean one, but my step dad George was great and since my Mom died in 2004 he has continued to be a loving supportive parent when I need him. I hope to fly him out this summer to visit for a month. I always trust that God knows what He is doing Dave and it is all in His plan. Because of my Mom and all of us my step dad stopped drinking and hard drugs, cleaned up his life and has told us he would probably have been dead without us, so it goes both ways and sometimes good things really do come out of bad situations.:flowerforyou:0
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I got an even better dad out of the deal my sperm donor was always a mean one, but my step dad George was great and since my Mom died in 2004 he has continued to be a loving supportive parent when I need him. I hope to fly him out this summer to visit for a month. I always trust that God knows what He is doing Dave and it is all in His plan. Because of my Mom and all of us my step dad stopped drinking and hard drugs, cleaned up his life and has told us he would probably have been dead without us, so it goes both ways and sometimes good things really do come out of bad situations.:flowerforyou:
I agree and thanks for the positive light.....we have enough to blame and fret over......and what does it get us? more negative energy that serves no purpose
HE says to live with Love and tolerance for others....and Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.....
like you said....sometimes good things do come out of bad situations....
let's have a nice Saturday0 -
Well, I don't know how many people actually read the study, I did, and the findings were obvious to me. The conclusions they made placed a higher emphasis on the person's mental attitude towards weight loss then the macro nutrient percentages. It also highlights the need for a support system (as noted by the editorial in that same NEJOM issue on this study by Martjin Katan Ph.D.).
Basically, what happened was, pretty much 80% of the people participating did well for the first 6 months sticking to the macro nutrient levels but after that, because the study wasn't providing the food for them, the slide away from the strict type of diet (high fat, high protein, high carbs, and mixes of each) became more prominent. That being the case, people still generally adhered to the calorie restriction requested of 725 calorie a day deficit. One major note was that the people who did the best were the people who attended the most training and support sessions.
conclusions seemed to agree with other studies (noted in the study) that no matter the makeup of the diet, if the patient is excited about it, has a supportive group of family and friends, and has the will power to continue, they will generally do better at maintaining the weight loss.
Amy, while I sympathize with your plight, I disagree totally with your statement about studies not refering to people in similar situations to you. If you search for obesity on www.ajcn.org (the american journal of clinical nutrition) you will find many many studies that target morbidly obese people. this study, however, wasn't targeting any one particular group (and in fact, the range of BMI for this group was 25 to 40).
IMHO, I'm sad that they couldn't completely follow through to completion with the trial, but as noted in both the article and the editorial, the only study to do so was one where patients were given their food, and kept under close supervision, and that test was done with a very small group and for only one year. If there were some proof that one macro nutrient were better then others at promoting weight loss, I would have to take another look, right now, as ever, the only thing we can be sure of is that which ever diet you choose to follow (high protein, low carbs, no carbs, no fat...etc), if you move towards a normal eating style you will (over the long term) lose the same amount of weight either way.0 -
Oh by the way, the study was conducted ONLY to see if a particular macro nutrient had an effect on how much weight was lost.
I.E. if someone does the atkins diet, or some kind of no fat diet, or some kind of low protein diet. Or some other diet which mixes those types of things.
There was a control group in the sense that there was a group eating a balanced normal restricted diet (kind of like what we preach here on MFP).
I believe that (and this is STRICTLY my opinion based on reading the report), the reason why they had no control group eating a normal American diet, is because the normal American diet does not restrict calorie intake and is all over the place with regards to macro nutrient levels, which would make that group meaningless because they can't put any guidelines on the food people eat. And besides that, there would be no benefit to having these results because the whole study was based around a given that every participant would be trying to lose weight. It would be like trying to compare apples and Car batteries. there's no reference point.0 -
Oh, one last note, I agree with the original premise that dave put forward (dunno if that was you or an article you copied Dave), that the media is emphasizing only the caloric deficit and not that you need to watch the quality of foods you eat. Hopefully my long winded statements above don't cloud peoples understanding of that.
I know I tend to get out of control with my posts. Sorry for that, I'm working on it.0 -
Oh, one last note, I agree with the original premise that dave put forward (dunno if that was you or an article you copied Dave), that the media is emphasizing only the caloric deficit and not that you need to watch the quality of foods you eat. Hopefully my long winded statements above don't cloud peoples understanding of that.
I know I tend to get out of control with my posts. Sorry for that, I'm working on it.
Don't worry Banks - we love you and thank you for it and did we tell you we are so happy you are back?????
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Oh, one last note, I agree with the original premise that dave put forward (dunno if that was you or an article you copied Dave), that the media is emphasizing only the caloric deficit and not that you need to watch the quality of foods you eat. Hopefully my long winded statements above don't cloud peoples understanding of that.
I know I tend to get out of control with my posts. Sorry for that, I'm working on it.
Don't worry Banks - we love you and thank you for it and did we tell you we are so happy you are back?????
why thank you my dear. Right back at ya! 0 -
Amy, while I sympathize with your plight, I disagree totally with your statement about studies not refering to people in similar situations to you. If you search for obesity on www.ajcn.org (the american journal of clinical nutrition) you will find many many studies that target morbidly obese people. this study, however, wasn't targeting any one particular group (and in fact, the range of BMI for this group was 25 to 40).
I wasn't talking about size I was referring to metabolic issues like hyperinsulinemia which is what they diagnosed me with. I have to stick to really whole grain and low glycemic load carbs to lose weight with carbs. Low carb would be better but I feel crappy on those diets.0 -
Oh, one last note, I agree with the original premise that dave put forward (dunno if that was you or an article you copied Dave), that the media is emphasizing only the caloric deficit and not that you need to watch the quality of foods you eat. Hopefully my long winded statements above don't cloud peoples understanding of that.
I know I tend to get out of control with my posts. Sorry for that, I'm working on it.
the article I posted was from the SouthBeach website that was in my emails this am...I agreed with their premise but did not want the point getting confused with yet another "diet" self proclaimed expert...my point was that one study can be slanted by the particular viewpoint of the reporter and on an earlier thread some were seemingly feeling that they only have to worry about coloric level and not what is they are actually putting in their bodies....normally I will cite the author or source and I apologize if anyone thought I was claiming that article as my own
Dave0 -
Amy, while I sympathize with your plight, I disagree totally with your statement about studies not refering to people in similar situations to you. If you search for obesity on www.ajcn.org (the american journal of clinical nutrition) you will find many many studies that target morbidly obese people. this study, however, wasn't targeting any one particular group (and in fact, the range of BMI for this group was 25 to 40).
I wasn't talking about size I was referring to metabolic issues like hyperinsulinemia which is what they diagnosed me with. I have to stick to really whole grain and low glycemic load carbs to lose weight with carbs. Low carb would be better but I feel crappy on those diets.
Yeah, I get ya, the metabolic syndrome issues don't get a lot of airtime with the media. But there are a lot of studies done with regards to them. You can search on hyperinsulinemia on ajcn too and a bunch of studies come up.0 -
the article I posted was from the SouthBeach website that was in my emails this am...I agreed with their premise but did not want the point getting confused with yet another "diet" self proclaimed expert...my point was that one study can be slanted by the particular viewpoint of the reporter and on an earlier thread some were seemingly feeling that they only have to worry about coloric level and not what is they are actually putting in their bodies....normally I will cite the author or source and I apologize if anyone thought I was claiming that article as my own
Dave
Nah, I didn't know, It read like an article so I thought it was, but it didn't bother me one way or the other. I agree that, that headline was a little misleading though.0
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