Dieting linked to better quality of life, clinical study says
A new clinical trial reports that going on a diet might help improve health, mood, sex drive, and stress levels even of those who are not obese.
According to lead author Corby Martin, director for behavioral sciences and epidemiology with the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, LA, a group of either healthy weight or mildly overweight people who were on a calorie-restricted diet for two years lost nearly 17 pounds on average and enjoyed significant quality-of-life improvement.
The participants were asked to restrict their calorie intake by 25% but they only achieved an average of 12% calorie reduction in over two years. Martin noted that participants still felt better and lost weight even though they fell short by half of their original calorie-cutting goal. “Even among people who are relatively healthy, you see these positive biological and physiological changes occurring with calorie restriction,” Martin said.
“Despite only achieving 12 percent, you still see the really big benefits of that degree of caloric decrease, and we have lots of data from other studies showing even smaller changes lead to very impressive outcomes,” said Dr. Scott Kahan, director of the National Center for Weight and Wellness in Washington, D.C.
For their clinical trial, Martin and his colleagues recruited 220 people with a body mass index (BMI) between 22 and 28. Average age was nearly 38, and 70% were women. Healthy weight runs from 18.5 to 24.9 BMI, while overweight runs from 25 to 29.9 BMI, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Obesity is defined as a BMI of 30 or higher. Almost two-thirds of the participants were asked to restrict their daily calories by 25% for two years, while the other third could eat whatever they wanted.
Compared with the no-diet group, the investigators found that people restricting their calories experienced: improved mood, including less depression; better quality of life; improved sleep; and enhanced sexual drive and better relationships. The biological changes that accompany weight loss — lower blood sugar, improved cholesterol, better blood pressure — appear to translate into a happier life for people who cut calories, even if those people are in good shape, Martin said. Lauri Wright, an assistant professor in the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health in Tampa, said the weight loss, not the calorie restriction, caused the improved mood, well-being and sex drive.
Martin and Kahan agreed that to successfully reduce calorie intake, you should find the diet that feels best for you and fits best into your daily lifestyle.”If one way fits for you better than another, don’t listen to the noise out there that says it has to be one way or the other way,” Kahan said.
The trial results are published in the May 2 online issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.
Source: CBS News
Category: Features, Wellness and Complementary Therapies
