Low-fat diet not as good as carb reduction for insulin resistant women

Carol Forsloff - A new study has found women who are overweight and insulin resistant lose more weight by reducing carbohydrates than cutting down on fat.

The information will be presented at the Endocrine Society's 92nd annual meeting this next Saturday.

"The typical diet that physicians recommend for weight loss is a low-fat diet," said Raymond Plodkowski, MD, chief of endocrinology, nutrition and metabolism at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, Reno who is the study's lead author,. "However, as this study shows, not all people have the same response to diets."

People who are insulin resistant, which is a common precursor for Type 2 diabetes, don't metabolize carbohydrates or "carbs" well and therefore will gain weight.  For these people, Plodkowski said, "the lower-carb diet is more effective, at least in the short term."

The study was funded by Jenny Craig using prepared calorie-controlled meals as part of a behavioral weight loss program, found that the insulin resistant women on a lower-carb diet lost 3.4 pounds more than those on a low-fat diet.

Forty-five overweight women between the ages of 18 and 65 years were involved in the study.  They all had insulin resistance.

Women in the low-fat diet group weighed 213 pounds on average. Women in the other group weighed on average 223 pounds.

It was found use of prepared meals aided in making the meals more palatable for dieters. Plodkowski said, "We wanted to make this study real-world—anyone could follow this plan by making moderate changes as part of a healthy menu," he said.

Both groups lost weight at each monthly weigh-in, but by 12 weeks, the insulin resistant group receiving the lower-carb diet lost significantly more weight, 19.6 pounds versus 16.2 pounds in the low-fat diet group – approximately 21 percent more on average.

"These data have potential widespread applications for clinicians when counseling people with insulin resistance to help improve weight loss as part of a calorie-restricted diet," Plodkowski said. "They should at least initially lower their carbohydrate intake."

This information comes at a time when experts are concerned about the obesity epidemic.  That extra weight creates health risks, one of which is diabetes.  This research provides the kind of information that can help patients develop an effective diet for both weight loss and sugar control, something that can reduce that obesity epidemic and decrease the rising cost of health care by focusing on prevention of those issues that create health problems.