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Home » How to lose weight quickly » Low-fat, low-carb, or low-glycemic? Study shows which is best to keep weight off

By Joy Bauer, TODAY nutrition expert

Cutting-edge research from Boston Childrens Hospital suggests that the type of diet you eat may affect your metabolism, a finding that has important implications for weight maintenance. Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association this week, the study looked at three popular diets (low-carb, low-glycemic, and low-fat) to see which combination of fat, carbs, and protein was the best for people trying to maintain a previous weight loss.

Kent Gilbert / AP file

Low-glycemic carbs like beans, lentils, and non-starchy vegetables take a long time for the body to absorb and appear to be more effective at satisfying hunger.

Because decreases in metabolism can contribute to weight regain, the researchers aimed to see which eating plan worked best with the bodys internal mechanisms to rev up dieters calorie burn and help them keep the weight off.

The low-glycemic diet emerged as the top-performing plan, giving people a significant metabolic boost without causing undesirable side effects. Participants burned approximately 125 more calories per day while following the low-glycemic plan compared to when eating a low-fat diet. While the low-carb diet had an even better effect on metabolism than the low-glycemic plan, the low-carb diet also produced the highest levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) and CRP (a marker of inflammation). These factors may raise the risk of developing heart disease and diabetes.

The low-glycemic diet offered a happy medium. It helped stabilize blood sugar and metabolism, and also had a beneficial impact on inflammation, stress hormones, and other heart-health markers.

Which type of diet do you think works best for you?

186757

Low-fat

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Low-fat, low-carb, or low-glycemic? Study shows which is best to keep weight off

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Home » How to lose weight quickly » Low-fat, low-carb, or low-glycemic? Study shows which is best to keep weight off