Looking for Weight-Loss Answers (2/2)

Each woman went on one of the four plans: Atkins, The Zone, Ornish or LEARN. The women attended diet classes and received written information about the food plans.

At the end of a year, the women on the Atkins diet had lost the most, more than four and one-half kilograms on average. They also did better on tests including cholesterol levels and blood pressure.

Christopher Gardner led the study, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association. He says the Atkins diet may be more successful because of its simple message to lower intake of sugars. Also, he says the advice to increase protein in the diet leads to more satisfying meals. He says there was not enough money to also study men, but that men would probably have similar results. But last week, another report suggested that only a small minority of people have long-term success with dieting. The report in the journal American Psychologist was based on 31 studies.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, medical school found that most dieters regained their lost weight within 5 years. And often they gained back even more. But those who kept the weight off generally were the ones who exercised.