JAMA Study: Atkins Works by Restricting Calories

A meta-analysis of dietary studies published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that low-carbohydrate diets cause some people to lose weight through the most boring diet technique of all — calorie restriction.

The JAMA article looked at 100 studies of low-carbohydrate diets involving a total of 3,268 people. The review of those studies conclude,

There is insufficient evidence to make recommendations for or against the use of low-carbohydrate diets, particularly among participants older than age 50 years, for use longer than 90 days, or for diets of 20 g/d or less of carbohydrates. Among the published studies, participant weight loss while using low-carbohydrate diets was principally associated with decreased caloric intake and increased diet duration but not with reduced carbohydrate content.

This is consistent with a 2001 review of over 200 dietary studies published in the Journal of the American Dietary Association. That study found that calorie consumption rather than dietary composition was the biggest predictor of BMI (that study, in fact, found significantly lower BMIs for people on a high carbohydrate diet as opposed to those on a low carb diet).

Sources:

Popular diets: correlation to health, nutrition, and obesity. Kennedy ET, Bowman SA, Spence JT, Freedman M, King J., J Am Diet Assoc 2001 Apr;101(4):411-20.

Study says calories count more than carbs in diets. Todd Ackerman, Houston Chronicle, April 9, 2003.

Calories still count in weight-loss game, studies find. Kim Severson, San Francisco Chronicle, April 9, 2003.

Efficacy and safety of low-carbohydrate diets: a systematic review. Bravata DM, Sanders L, Huang J, Krumholz HM, Olkin I, Gardner CD, Bravata DM, JAMA 2003 Apr 9;289(14):1837-50.

Leave a Reply