Low carbohydrates diets continue to be all the rage. But new research suggests they may not be the best weight loss approach. Dr. Dean Edell takes a look at the latest study.
Low carb has become a national obsession, so virtually anything with carbohydrates has become public enemy number one.
Dori is on the low carb bandwagon�
Dori Sulla, low carb dieter: "I'm watching my weight, I guess... I eat low carbs for health... for weight issues."
Low carb diets exploded after the Atkins and South Beach diets. For low carb purists sugar is bad, but so is an orange. Bread is bad but so is a potato. And in the short-term, low carb dieters do reduce calories so they lose weight.
Dori: "I've noticed I've slimmed way down because I put on my bathing suit and I can see a difference in myself and I feel healthier...I have more energy."
Well a new study flies in the face of all this low carb hype. Researchers found dieters eating lots of carbohydrates and little fat, lost weight without actually cutting calories and even without exercising.
In this 12-week study, dieters that were told to eat high carbohydrate, low-fat foods as much as they wanted to, until they were no longer hungry, lost 7 pounds. Adding moderate exercise to the diet increased weight loss to 11 pounds.
The control group ate high fat, low carb foods, but they lost no weight.
Gail Woodward-Lopez, MPH, RD: "Yes, they did find that significantly more weight was lost in the carbohydrate group."
Dr. Woodward-Lopez is the associate director of the Center for Weight and Health at U.C. Berkeley. She has just finished a comprehensive review of hundreds of weight loss studies. She says all diets work short-term.
Dr. Woodward-Lopez: "Americans are great at losing weight. All of the diets work."
But her research is clear - to keep weight off long term, studies show high carbohydrate diets are best.
Dr. Woodward-Lopez: "We found that those people who are successful in maintaining a healthy weight, tend to eat a larger percentage of calories from carbohydrate, they get adequate protein, relatively low fat. they eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, a lot of fiber."
And the clincher - a study by the national weight loss registry of people who lost more than 30 pounds and kept it off for a year, turns out astoundingly, less than one percent were on a low carb diet.
Even Dori is modifying her diet.
Dori: "I think that you have to incorporate everything into your diet without being extreme, because if you're extreme than you're lying to your body and that's why when you start incorporating them you gain more weight."
Of course, ultimately, it's not what you eat... but how much.
Experts say, there is no magic here. It all comes down to number of calories you eat not the type of food.