Nutrition

Which Popular Diet Offers The Most Long-Term Benefits?

Popular diets—eg, Atkins, Zone, Weight Watchers, and South Beach—may have a significant short-term impact, however data only supports modest long-term benefits, according to a new study.

“North Americans spend millions of dollars in the weight loss industry, [however] available data are conflicting and insufficient to identify 1 popular diet as being more beneficial than the others,” wrote the study authors.
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For this reason, Mark J Eisenberg, MD, MPH, and colleagues conducted a systematic review of the efficacy of the Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers, and Zone diets, with the primary outcome being weight loss at 12 months. 

They analyzed data from 12 studies and 2559 participants; 10 of the studies pitted the popular diet against usual care and 2 were head-to-head investigations. 

In a 1-year follow comparing the diets, participants lost:

  • 4.6 lbs to 10.3 lbs with Atkins
  • 6.6 lbs with Weight Watchers
  • 3.5 lbs to 7 lbs with Zone
  • 4.85 lbs with usual care

Furthermore:

  • Dieters lost an average 7.7 lbs to 13.2 lbs after 1 year with Weight Watchers, but partially regained some of that weight after 2 years.
  • South Beach dieters reported no difference as compared to the usual care control group at 1 year.
  • Patients undergoing usual care lost an average of 1.8 lbs to 11.9 lbs after 1 year.

There were no notable differences in the participants’ cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, or other cardiovascular risk factors between the different diets.

“Our results suggest that all 4 diets are modestly efficacious at decreasing weight in the short-term, but that these benefits are not sustained long-term,” reseachers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Eisenberg MJ, Atallah R, Filion KB, et al. Long-term effects of 4 popular diets on weight loss and cardiovascular risk factors: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Circ. Outcomes. 2014 Nov 11 [epub ahead of print]. doi: 10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.113.000723