Weight Loss Treatment

A low-carb diet helps people lose as much weight as a low-fat diet plus weight-loss drug orlistat and low carb plan might be better to help reduce blood pressure, researchers report.

The study, published in the Jan. 25 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that both diets helped participants lose almost ten percent of their body weight.

“The weight loss was similar but substantial in both groups studied, but the improvement in blood pressure was higher in the low-carbohydrate group,” said Dr. William Yancy Jr., author of the study and associate professor of medicine Medical Center and Duke University Medical Center’s medical facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Durham, North Carolina.

“There are options available. Choose the diet that he believes will bring better and work with your doctor to help you choose the right intervention for you, “she said. Obesity is a major contributor to many diseases, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and many cancers, according to an editorial in the journal, written by Dr. Robert Kushner, of the Feinberg School of Medicine of Southwestern University. More than a third of American adults are obese and the incidence of obesity has increased 140 percent over the past decade, says Kushner.

In the study by Yancy took 146 overweight or obese adults who were randomly assigned to low-carb diet or orlistat with a diet low in fat. The average age of study participants was 52 years and mean body mass index was 39 (from 30 is considered obese). Orlistat is marketed as Xenical, a prescription drug, and Alli, the OTC. The low carbohydrate diet began with an intake of less than twenty grams (0.70 ounces) of carbohydrates per day. The group taking orlistat received a dose of 120 milligrams of the drug three times a day and got less than thirty percent of their calories from fat.

For 48 weeks, the low-carbohydrate group lost 9.5 percent of their body weight, while the orlistat group lost 8.5 percent. The levels of good cholesterol (HDL) and triglycerides improved in both groups. LDL or “bad” declined only in the orlistat group. Markers of insulin and glucose only improved in the low-carb and there was a significant reduction in blood pressure in the low-carbohydrate group compared to the orlistat group. Systolic blood pressure (top number) dropped 5.9 mm Hg in the low carbohydrate group, compared to 1.5 mm / Hg in the orlistat group. Similar declines in diastolic blood pressure. Yancy said that declines in blood pressure and cholesterol may have been more impressive if people had stayed with their medicines, but as they lost weight and the readings were normal, doctors removed the blood pressure drugs and cholesterol.

Two studies appearing in the same issue of the magazine evaluated the effectiveness of the DASH diet and a medically supervised plan. The researchers compared the DASH diet (for the short term for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) alone and in combination with exercise and weight management in relation to blood pressure. The researchers found that combining the DASH diet with weight management and exercise resulted in a decrease of 16.1 mm / Hg in systolic blood pressure and 11.2 mm / Hg with the DASH diet alone. In addition, those in the exercise plan, weight management and DASH diet lost an average of 19 pounds (just over eight and a half kilos) for four months, compared with less than one pound (less than half kilo) with DASH diet alone.

The third study compared a weight management program online with a program run by doctors for extremely obese people, including a liquid component, followed by a structured diet, behavioral counseling and diet drugs. More intensive intervention was more successful, with 31 percent of participants lost more than five percent of their body weight, compared to just nine percent of the Internet group. “There are many ways to lose weight,” said registered dietitian Karen Congro, director of the Wellness Program for life from Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York City. What often makes the difference in whether a diet is successful or not, he said, is whether the plan is or is not a component of counseling and support.

He also noted that these studies show that is not necessarily achieve the “ideal weight” to make substantial improvements to health. Losing five to ten percent of body weight can make positive changes in blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose control. “If you can make a healthier person, then the diet is a success,” Congro