Diets Have Long-Term Benefits Even with Weight Gain
Diets Have Long-Term Benefits Even with Weight Gain
October 5, 2012
Medical Research, Press Releases
BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL, October 5, 2012 — Mediterranean and low-carbohydrate diets have lasting, healthy effects, even with partial weight regain, according to a follow-up study by researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) conducted with Israel’s Nuclear Research Center.
The results were just published in a peer-reviewed letter in the current New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) as an update to the landmark study, the workplace-based Dietary Intervention Randomized Controlled Trial (DIRECT), a tightly controlled 24-month dietary intervention.
According to Dr. Dan Schwarzfuchs from the Nuclear Research Center Negev in Dimona, “Our follow-up subsequent data shows lasting, positive effects of Mediterranean and low-carbohydrate diets six years later.” The results suggest that the lipid profile (lower cholesterol, triglycerides and arteriosclerosis) improved for the long term, regardless of partial regain.
“Data from trials comparing the effectiveness of weight-loss diets are frequently limited to the intervention period,” explains Prof. Iris Shai, of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
Overall six-year weight loss was significantly lower from baseline for Mediterranean and low-carbohydrate diets, but not for the low-fat group. In the four-year post-intervention, participants regained nearly six pounds. Total weight change for the entire six-year period was approximately -7 lbs. for the Mediterranean diet and -3.7 lbs. for the low-carbohydrate diet.
After four years post-intervention, more than two-thirds (67 percent) of the DIRECT participants had continued with their original assigned diet, 11 percent switched to another diet and 22 percent were not dieting at all.
The researchers also found that after six years, the HDL/LDL ratio remained significantly lower only in the low-carbohydrate diet. Triglyceride levels remained significantly lower in the Mediterranean and low-carbohydrate diets. Overall, total cholesterol levels remained persistently and significantly lower in all diet groups as compared to baseline.
In the original study, 322 moderately obese subjects were randomly assigned to one of three diets: low-fat; restricted-calorie; Mediterranean, restricted-calorie; or low-carbohydrate, non-restricted-calorie, and were provided color-labeled food per diet daily in the workplace cafeteria. The two-year adherence rate was 85 percent.
The results suggested beneficial metabolic effects to low-carb and Mediterranean diets. Moreover, the researchers found a significant diet-induced regression in the carotid vessel wall volume across all diet groups. This change was mainly dependent on diet-induced reduction of blood pressure.
“This breakthrough, even years later, continues to yield valuable information that can help every one of us make healthier diet choices,” says Doron Krakow, executive vice president of American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. “It is another example of BGU and Israeli researchers, thanks to generous funding by the Atkins foundation, improving the quality of our lives.”
This research was supported by the Nuclear Research Center Negev; the Chief Scientist Office of the Israel Ministry of Health (Project No. 300000-4850); and the Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Research Foundation in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania.
American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev plays a vital role in sustaining David Ben-Gurion’s vision, creating a world-class institution of education and research in the Israeli desert, nurturing the Negev community and sharing the University’s expertise locally and around the globe. With some 20,000 students on campuses in Beer-Sheva, Sde Boker and Eilat in Israel’s southern desert, BGU is a university with a conscience, where the highest academic standards are integrated with community involvement, committed to sustainable development of the Negev.
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ABOUT AMERICANS FOR BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY
By supporting a world-class academic institution that not only nurtures the Negev, but also shares its expertise locally and globally, Americans for Ben-Gurion University engages a community of Americans who are committed to improving the world. David Ben-Gurion envisioned that Israel’s future would be forged in the Negev. The cutting-edge research carried out at Ben-Gurion University drives that vision by sustaining a desert Silicon Valley, with the “Stanford of the Negev” at its center. The Americans for Ben-Gurion University movement supports a 21st century unifying vision for Israel by rallying around BGU’s remarkable work and role as an apolitical beacon of light in the Negev desert.
About Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev embraces the endless potential we have as individuals and as a commonality to adapt and to thrive in changing environments. Inspired by our location in the desert, we aim to discover, to create, and to develop solutions to dynamic challenges, to pose questions that have yet to be asked, and to push beyond the boundaries of the commonly accepted and possible.
We are proud to be a central force for inclusion, diversity and innovation in Israel, and we strive to extend the Negev’s potential and our entrepreneurial spirit throughout the world. For example, the multi-disciplinary School for Sustainability and Climate Change at BGU leverages over 50 years of expertise on living and thriving in the desert into scalable solutions for people everywhere.
BGU at a glance:
20,000 students | 800 senior faculty | 3 campuses | 6 faculties: humanities & social sciences, health sciences, engineering sciences, natural sciences, business & management, and desert research.
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