The low-carbohydrate diet craze had been prevalent in the last few years. Many had found it as an effective means to achieve quick weight loss. A lot of people follow this diet as there is little need for exercise. Although it provides rapid weight loss, how effective is it for long term sustainable weight loss?

Low Carbohydrate Diets

Most people follow a variation of low-carbohydrate diets. This includes from reducing the amount of carbohydrates to almost completely eliminating it. The almost complete elimination of carbohydrates is the Atkins Diet.

Rapid Initial Weight Loss

Low-carbohydrate diets do produce quick weight loss. Most of the weight loss comes from the loss of your body’s carbohydrate stores which are called glycogen. The weight loss is also attributed to the loss of water as glycogen bonds with water when stored in the body.

There will be a big weight gain when someone comes off a low-carbohydrate diet. This happens as the body tries to replenish its glycogen stores. The body will even over-compensate by storing more glycogen then necessary in certain situations.

Sustainability of Weight Loss from Low Carbohydrate Diets

While the Atkins Diet, does produce quick results, the long-term sustainability of the weight loss is questionable. The challenge is to keep off carbohydrates in a world where carbohydrates are in abundance in all forms.

The Atkins Diet is also a life of deprivation and most people will not be able to endure it for long. People who go off carbohydrates would have strong cravings. When they start eating carbohydrates again, the weight usually comes back.

A study was published in the 2005 issue of the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association that compared the effects of the Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers and Zone Diets on weight loss. The researchers concluded that there was only a modest weight loss for each popular diet. The weight loss was between 2 – 3 kgs after a year.

Another study published in the 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association compared the Atkins, Ornish, Zone and LEARN diets.The findings were based on data collected from the A to Z weight loss study.

The researchers concluded that the women who followed the Atkins diet, lost more weight at 12 months than women assigned to follow the Zone diet. The women on the Atkins diet also experienced comparable or more favorable metabolic effects than those assigned to the Zone, Ornish, or LEARN diets. While its true that there was more weight loss with the Atkins Diet, the average weight loss after 12 months was 4.6 kg and this was considered the better result. This is not very impressive, considering that the women were obese.

In 2008, The New England Journal of Medicine reviewed the effectiveness of weight loss with a low-carbohydrate, Mediterranean or low-fat diet. After 2 years, weight loss among the 272 participants who completed the intervention, was 3.3 kg for the low-fat group, 4.6 kg for the Mediterranean Diet Group, and 5.5 kg for the low-carbohydrate group.

Do bear in mind that none of the above studies incorporated exercise. This could be a reason why none of these diets obtained significant weight loss.

Adherence to a Diet is the Key

In another study published in the 2008 issue of the International Journal of Obesity, researchers investigated dietary adherence and weight loss among overweight women. The findings of the study were based on data collected from to A to Z weight loss study.

This was the same data used to conclude that the Atkins diet was more effective after 12 months as compared to the Zone, Ornish and LEARN diets. The researchers concluded that regardless of assigned diet groups, 12-month weight change was greater in the most adherent compared to the least adherent participants. These results suggest that strategies to increase adherence may deserve more emphasis than the specific macronutrient composition of the weight loss diet itself in supporting successful weight loss.

What is important is not the diet. What is important is the adherence to the diet. But even the adherence to a particular diet does not produce consistent results. A healthy lifestyle is the key to losing weight and keeping it off.

Exercise and Eat Healthy

Exercise should be an essential part of any weight loss initiative. Effective weight loss can be achieved via exercise and a healthy diet. A healthy diet should consist of complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates such as sugar or white flour should be avoided as much as possible. Exercise is an essential part of sustainable weight loss.

Choose a Lifestyle Instead of a Diet

The key to long-term and sustainable weight loss is a lifestyle. Research has shown time and time again that diets only provide short-term results. Long term results are obtained by inculcating the correct habits. A low-carbohydrate or Atkins diet may produce very quick initial weight loss. But the weight comes back just as rapidly once someone comes off the diet.

One should instead focus on correct weight loss by eating healthy and not forgetting exercise.

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