Abstract
The present review examined the evidence base for current popular diets, as listed in the 2016 U.S. News & World Report, on short-term (≤six months) and long-term (≥one year) weight loss outcomes in overweight and obese adults. For the present review, all diets in the 2016 U.S. News & World Report Rankings for “Best Weight-Loss Diets”, which did not involve specific calorie targets, meal replacements, supplementation with commercial products, and/or were not categorized as “low-calorie” diets were examined. Of the 38 popular diets listed in the U.S. News & World Report, 20 met our pre-defined criteria. Literature searches were conducted through PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science using preset key terms to identify all relevant clinical trials for these 20 diets. A total of 16 articles were identified which reported findings of clinical trials for seven of these 20 diets: (1) Atkins; (2) Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH); (3) Glycemic-Index; (4) Mediterranean; (5) Ornish; (6) Paleolithic; and (7) Zone. Of the diets evaluated, the Atkins Diet showed the most evidence in producing clinically meaningful short-term (≤six months) and long-term (≥one-year) weight loss. Other popular diets may be equally or even more effective at producing weight loss, but this is unknown at the present time since there is a paucity of studies on these diets.
Highlights
Against the backdrop of the obesity epidemic and the inability of most individuals to sustain weight loss induced by calorie-restricted diets [1], alternative dietary approaches to achieve shortand long-term weight loss have become of increasing scientific interest [2]
We found that the Atkins Diet produced substantial long-term weight losses in a number of clinical trials [20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29]
We found diets with low carbohydrate content to be effective at producing short- and long-term weight loss, the safety of this dietary approach needs to be critically examined [36,37]
Summary
Against the backdrop of the obesity epidemic and the inability of most individuals to sustain weight loss induced by calorie-restricted diets [1], alternative dietary approaches to achieve shortand long-term weight loss have become of increasing scientific interest [2]. Nutrients 2017, 9, 822 these recommendations, the results of the U.S National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) showed that carbohydrate consumption increased from 39% of total energy intake in 1971 to 51% in 2011 During this same time period, the percentage of overweight Americans increased dramatically (from 42% to 66%) [4]. Based in part on such trends in weight gain, the creators of many popular diets (e.g., Atkins, Zone) have suggested that diets in which carbohydrate intake is significantly higher than other macronutrients are not an optimal approach for weight loss and may even contribute to weight gain Most of these diets are published and promoted by one or more health and wellness “experts” who attest to the health and weight loss benefits observed when following their recommended diet
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