In the ongoing quest to find the most effective dietary approach for weight loss, researchers have investigated the impacts of two different diet types – Calorie Counting, as recommended by the Diabetes Prevention Program, and MyPlate, a simpler and more visually intuitive approach to balanced eating.
Their focus was on measuring the impacts of these diets on satiety (the absence of hunger) and satiation (the feeling of satisfaction after a meal), as well as body fat composition.
Study Design and Population
The randomized control trial included 261 overweight, adult, low-income Latina patients and took place over a 12-month period.
Community health workers engaged with participants through home visits, group education sessions, and telephone coaching.
The study measured participants’ satiation, satiety, waist circumference, and body weight at the beginning of the trial and again at six- and 12-month follow-up visits.
Findings
Results revealed that satiation and satiety scores increased for participants following both diets, indicating that both programs promoted feelings of satisfaction with meals and the absence of hunger.
Further, participants reported higher quality of life and emotional well-being, decreased waist circumference, and high satisfaction with their assigned weight loss program.
Interestingly, the MyPlate group experienced lower systolic blood pressure at the six-month follow-up, although this was not sustained over the full 12-month trial period.
This suggests that the MyPlate-based intervention may provide an effective, practical alternative to traditional calorie-counting approaches for weight loss.
Context and Implications
With obesity rates sitting around 42% in the US, effective and sustainable weight loss strategies are of vital importance.
Traditional methods of addressing obesity often involve calorie restriction, which tends to have short-term efficacy but is challenging to maintain in the long run.
This study’s findings suggest that focusing on satiation and satiety through both Calorie Counting and MyPlate diets can have beneficial effects on weight loss and overall well-being in overweight individuals.
Specifically, the MyPlate diet offers a simpler approach that might be more appealing to some populations and that could lead to short-term improvements in systolic blood pressure.
The research team recommends further investigation into satiety-enhancing approaches for weight control in diverse populations, as well as the use of community health workers to facilitate these changes.
The findings are published in The Annals of Family Medicine journal.
If you care about health, please read studies about unhealthy habits that could increase high blood pressure risk, and eating eggs in a healthy diet may reduce risks of diabetes, high blood pressure.
For more information about health, please see recent studies that early time-restricted eating could help improve blood pressure, and results showing DASH diet is good for your blood pressure, and vegetable diet may reduce heart disease risk.
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