“That’s all folks” - as the weight loss project is effectively complete, it makes sense to stop adding entries to this Blog.

My main blog is here.

The sample size in this BMJ reported study isn’t big enough for reliability but the findings are intuitively right in my book:

“In 1999, 43% of the population had a BMI that put them in the overweight or obese range, of whom 81% perceived themselves to be overweight or very overweight. In 2007, 53% of the population had a BMI in the overweight or obese range, of whom only 75% reported themselves to be overweight, very overweight, or obese.”

excellent commentary on the diet study results by a knowledgable blogger who knows her stuff ….”homeostatic metabolic adjustments work to return body weights to their genetically-determined setpoint range, in both naturally obese and nonobese bodies. These biological adjustments are so powerful, as much as a four-fold increase in metabolic efficiency, that to keep weight off below one’s natural range, or to try to lose more, requires increasing severe caloric restrictions, not optimal for nutritional health or wellbeing.”

Big picture summary: low-fat diet may not be as effective as Mediterranean/Low-carb diets when it comes to weight loss and improving cholesterol profiles. Med diet probably best for diabetes:

‘The Atkins diet may have proved itself after all: A low-carb diet and a Mediterranean-style regimen helped people lose more weight than a traditional low-fat diet in one of the longest and largest studies to compare the dueling weight-loss techniques.

A bigger surprise: The low-carb diet improved cholesterol more than the other two. Some critics had predicted the opposite.’

‘Among the 36 diabetics, only those on the Mediterranean diet lowered blood sugar levels. Among the 45 women, those on the Mediterranean diet lost the most weight.’ - Washington Post

‘The mean weight loss was 2.9kg (6.5 pounds) for the low-fat group, 4.4kg (10 pounds) for the Mediterranean-diet group, and 4.7kg (10.3 pounds) for the low-carbohydrate group. The researchers also report that the lipid profile (the ratio of total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein – ‘good’ cholesterol) improved more in the low-carbohydrate group than in the low-fat group. They added that “among the 36 subjects with diabetes, changes in fasting plasma glucose and insulin levels were more favourable among those assigned to the Mediterranean diet than among those assigned to the low-fat diet”.’ - NHS Choices

The low-fat diet reduced the total cholesterol to HDL ratio by only 12 percent, while the low-carbohydrate diet improved the same ratio by 20 percent. Lipids improved the most in the low-carbohydrate, with a 20% increase in the HDL (“good”) cholesterol and, 14% decrease in triglycerides. In all three diets, inflammatory and liver function biomarkers was equally improved. However, among diabetic participants, the standard low-fat diet actually increased the fasting glucose levels by 12mg/dL, while the Mediterranean diet induced a decrease in fasting glucose levels by 33mg/dL.’ - Science Daily