New England Journal posted a new research, which was conducted by American scientists. According to this research, the most important parameter to reducing weight is counting the daily calorie intake (to find out how many calories you should consume - click here).

The scientists from public health school at Harvard University monitored 811 overweight volunteers for two years. The volunteers were divided to four groups, each group had a menu based on specific food types. The food types were rich in carbs, fats, proteins and combined. The menus were also based on popular carb and protein diets.

According to the diet, the volunteers ate wide variety of carbs, proteins and fats that came from healthy foods, like: pasta and olive oil. The participants had a daily intake of about 750 kcal less than the in the usual menu, for instance: a man that ate 2,800 kcal daily received a total of 2000 kcal in his daily menu.

Most participants showed dramatic weight loss after six month and dropped off 6kg on average. Many participants’ weight rose during the next year, but 15% succeeded in loosing 10% of their body weight.

During the research there were no significant differences on hunger or satisfaction levels among the four different groups. The volunteers had private meetings with dieticians, and participated in support groups. Volunteers that participated regularly in support groups, succeeded to achieve the biggest weight loss.

“The true key to weight loss is calories”, said the head of the research team, “not the fat content or the carbs content. Only the calories are what really matters. There is no significant difference among the diets.”

In conclusion: once again we’re brought back to the main stream, where calories intake counting (see diets distribution) is emphasized. Thus, I would recommend keeping your nutrition balanced and not going to extremities in your diet.