Battle of the Bulge: Stanford University Picks the Best Diet

Anyone over 35 knows what a battle it is keeping weight gain at bay. Between work, kids, unhealthy food, holidays, alcohol, sweets, etc., maintaining the appropriate calorie intake and workout regimen at times is almost impossible.

So many of us turn to the occasional diet to get back to a desired weight. But there is so much confusing information and obfuscation by vested interests that finding out which of the popular diets is most effective is almost impossible.

Fortunately, the Stanford University has done the leg work for us and conducted a year-long, head-to-head test of four popular diets.

Atkins: Very low-carbohydrate, high-protein, high-fat approach
Learn: A "standard" low-fat, reduced-calorie regimen
The Zone: A reduced-carbohydrate diet
Dean Ornish: very low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet

The good news is that the women in the study as a whole achieved weight loss regardless of the particular diet they were on. Second, the amount of weight lost ranged from 5 to 10 pounds--not huge but not insignificant. On the high-end of the weight loss scale (so to speak) was the Atkins diet which had the best success in the study (and not the first study in which it had the best results).

The study also did not show any indication that the high-protein Atkins diet caused harmful heart and artery effects, something that has been feared by the animal fat in many Atkins diets.

Women who followed the Atkins plan had a significant drop in triglycerides, one of the unhealthful blood fats linked to a higher risk of heart disease. Their blood pressure also dropped the most of the four groups, a finding that the researchers think may relate to their slightly greater weight loss. Those in the Atkins group also experienced the largest increase in high-density lipoprotein (HDL), a protective type of cholesterol.

Most important, the Atkins group did not develop the soaring levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) that some experts have thought might result from eating a diet rich in saturated fat and cholesterol found in fatty cuts of meat, butter and cream. High levels of LDL are a major risk factor for heart disease. The study found that while LDL rose slightly for those in the Atkins group, their blood levels did not differ statistically from the other groups.

Does this end the controversy and mean that if you want to lose weight you should go on the Atkins? With regard to the second question, all of the popular diets have decent average weight loss. The key to losing weight is to take in less calories than you burn. Yes, there are other variables but at its most basic level a combination of smart eating and exercise is the best ticket. If after reading an Atkins book you feel it is right for you, then Stanford at least would not argue.

As for the first question, does this settle the question of who has the best diet? Not by a long shot. Here is a quote by Dean Ornish, whose diet didn't fair as well as Atkins, "This study is seriously flawed, and its conclusions misleading." Oh well.

One of the biggest problems with diets is not the success rate of people who stick with the diet but what is the washout rate? With this in mind, would-be dieters should look at all credible diets and pick the one that they think is most amenable to their lifestyle and tastes. While unsaid in the study, a diet, any diet, is better than no diet for people facing weight issues--which would be most of us.