Actually Effective Weight Loss
Snake Oil
The weight loss and diet industry is enormous. Globally in 2022, it was valued at over 142 billion dollars and is expected to only increase. With that much money in play, there is a massive incentive for misinformation, disinformation, scams, and all sorts of other shady business. Everyone is looking to sell you the next magic pill or the new fad diet . Luckily for you, I am not looking to sell you anything, I just want you to be informed and show you an actual, scientifically proven method of losing weight, and then keeping it off.
Calories In - Calories Out
“Now hold on,” you might say, “I know the theory behind losing weight it is just how many calories you ingest versus how many you burn. I don’t need to know anymore than that.” Well yes, but actually also no, in a lab setting, sure, but there is a lot else at play here that I may touch on here, but will cover in more detail at a later date.
This being true means there are a lot of crazy ways of losing weight: You can have someone lock you up and starve you... and that would work, but that might not be your preferred method. Is there a better way?
Most weight loss studies are very strict. Participants are given exact meals, they are made to count calories, and made to exercise regularly. This often leaves them feeling hungry all the time, and it is completely unsustainable outside of the lab setting.
What if you did not need to do that? What if a study has already been done showing greater weight loss after 6 and 12 months than any other weight loss study. A study that did not restrict calories or enforce exercise. It sounds too good to be true doesn’t it?
The BROAD Study
This study was conducted in New Zealand in the region of Gisborne, which is the poorest region in the country with the highest rates of obesity and other lifestyle diseases. The study wanted to put a low-fat whole plant food diet to the test.
This study featured a control group which is always an important thing to have as people will probably adjust their habits somewhat if they know their weight is going to be checked again in a couple of months. Having this control group means that you can isolate to just the weight loss caused by what you are studying.
So what did the researchers have them do? For 3 months, they had the participants attend bi-weekly evening sessions where they were simply taught about what a WFPB (Whole Food Plant Based) diet is, what things they should aim to eat, and what foods they should avoid. They were given advice and encouragement. There were also some sessions where they watched a documentary or got a chef to give them a cooking tutorial. The participants were also given vitamin B12 supplements. They were not told to exercise, and they were specifically told not to count calories. So how did this turn out?
The Results
The researchers were so shocked by the initial results that they requested, and were awarded an extension to the study so that they could see the results even further out into the future.
After the first 3 months the participants had lost an average of 19 pounds. Additionally, normally once a study finishes, you expect participants to regain at least some of that weight back, that is what all other weight loss studies find. However, instead after 6 months, that weight loss had increased to an average of 27 pounds. (It should be noted that this is even with the teaching part of the study over, the participants had now just spent an additional 3 months on their own with no guidance from the study and managed to keep going)
The participants reported an increase in how they felt physically and mentally. Their cholesterol levels improved and, in that time period medication use among the control group increased by 8%, but in the study group it fell by 20%. In fact, one participant had their diabetes improve so much that their doctor took them off their insulin. This is listed in the harms section of the study, where the researchers detail anything that went wrong with the participants. Not too bad when the harm is curing someone’s diabetes.
The other great thing about this diet was that people were sticking with it all on their own, it was working and feeling so good that they stuck to it. A true rarity among weight loss studies: to maintain the diet afterward, and continue to lose weight!
My Thoughts
This study gives me a lot of hope, since it shows just how much power we actually have at our disposal for weight loss. On the other hand it frustrates me to see how science has the answer for weight loss, yet people are just not told nor made aware of it. Countless other fad diets are promoted, all sorts of supplements are pushed, due to the economic advantage for these companies to do. Big Strawberry or Big Kale just do not have the resources to show people these studies.
Often, veganism is portrayed as something reserved only for the rich, where being vegan is so expensive, the average person could never do it. Here, the study went to the poorest people in New Zealand and they were able to do it, and based on the results of the study, they thrived.
Doctors tend to give people medication and not bother telling people to make lifestyle changes because people rarely ever do. Or at least that is what is commonly touted. This study shows how that is not true. People, when presented with evidence, are able to make significant lifestyle changes that benefit their health. It tells me that while it would take some effort and resources, health agencies around the world could teach people about eating better. Based on the results of the study, even if it costs money to do, health care organizations would save big time in the long term on health care costs.
So what about you the reader? How does this study affect you? What I hope you take away from this is that losing weight is not an impossible task, that it is something you can achieve, and that it is something attainable. You can do this, and you can improve your health outcomes.
Source
Read the study yourself in full for free here: Study
