Diets of all kinds can work provided slimmers stick to them, researchers claimed last night.
A new study suggests the key to a successful diet is simply to reduce the amount of calories consumed.
Research, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, compared four diets to see the impact of trying low-fat, low-protein or low-carbohydrate diets.
Some 811 people took part in the research across the USA.
All the participants were asked to undertake weekly exercise and to follow "heart healthy" principles, replacing saturated fat with unsaturated and eating diets rich in cereals, fruits and vegetables.
The researchers said all the diets led to "clinically meaningful" weight loss over a period of two years.
Researcher Professor Frank Sacks, of the Harvard School of Public Health, Massachusetts, USA, said: "This is important information for physicians, dieticians and adults, who should focus weight loss approaches on reducing calorie intake."
And Dr Elizabeth Nabel, director of the US National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, said: "These results show that, as long as people follow a heart-healthy, reduced-calorie diet, there is more than one nutritional approach to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight."
NEJM, February 26, 2009, vol. 360, no. 9.
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