IT SOUNDS too good be true: a diet where you lose weight without having to think about what you eat or exercising; the weight stays off, and you feel happier. Yet a small study suggests that the 鈥渘o diet鈥� diet achieves just this.
The idea behind the diet, devised by Ben Fletcher of the University of Hertfordshire in the UK, is to get people to break their usual habits. To test it, he recruited 55 volunteers aged from 23 to 61.
The structured part of the regime lasts only a month. Each day the volunteers had to pick a different option from 15 pairs of contrasting behaviours such as reactive/proactive, lively/quiet or introvert/extrovert, and behave that way during the day. This could be difficult, for example, if an introverted person has to try being extrovert, or if someone who likes to be the centre of attention has to blend into the crowd. Twice a week, they also had to do something they wouldn鈥檛 usually do, such as listening to a different radio station or buying a different newspaper.
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After four months, the volunteers had lost 5 kilograms on average, Fletcher told a meeting of the British Psychological Society in Edinburgh this week. A further six months on, most had kept the weight off. Many also reported less depression and anxiety. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about healthy eating, it鈥檚 about what鈥檚 better for the individual,鈥� Fletcher says.
The method is based on the Framework for Internal Transformation (FIT), a self-development method formulated and promoted by Fletcher. Forcing people to change their routine makes them think harder about the decisions they take, he says. So though the participants were not told to improve their diets or exercise more, they ended up choosing to do exactly that 鈥� without having to apply the willpower needed to stick to a normal diet.
鈥淚t sounds like a sensible strategy,鈥� says Toni Steer of MRC Human Nutrition Research in Cambridge, UK. Nutritionists recognise that for someone to make long-term dietary changes they have to change their behaviour, she says. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 recommend people think about going on a diet, as it suggests that one day you鈥檙e going to come off the diet.鈥�
Mixed verdict for Atkins diet
THE Atkins diet produces rapid weight loss at first but it is no better than conventional diets after a year. It may improve health at first as weight is shed but could increase the risk of heart disease and cancer in the long term. And the diet does not work in the way that Atkins claimed.
These are the conclusions of a review, published in The Lancet (vol 364, p 897), of the few long-term studies of low-carb diets such as the Atkins. 鈥淚t works as a way to achieve rapid weight loss, but it鈥檚 not a lifestyle change,鈥� says lead author Arne Astrup of RVA University in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Side effects such as constipation, headaches, muscle cramps and halitosis are more common on the Atkins than on low-fat diets, and if maintained for more than six months the reduced intake of fruit and vegetables is likely to increase the risk of heart disease and cancer, Astrup says. 鈥淵ou may be able to get enough if you live on cauliflower and raw carrots, but it is difficult.鈥�
Why the Atkins diet works is unclear. The mechanisms proposed by Atkins could only account for a tiny fraction of weight loss, the review says. It is more likely that people simply end up eating less because they have to restrict their choice of foods and eat high-protein foods that make them feel fuller.