A high protein, low-fat and low-carb diet is the secret to healthy weight, according to the results of a major European study announced last night.
The 14.5 million Euro study may put an end to controversy about dieting – seeming to confirm the insights of the controversial Atkins diet.
The researchers say lean meat, low-fat dairy products and beans are the components of a successful diet – and this should not include refined starches such as white bread and white rice.
The Danish researchers say that current standard guidelines for losing weight are "not sufficient".
A spokesman for Copenhagen University, Denmark, said: "With this diet, you can also eat until you are full without counting calories and without gaining weight."
Researchers studied some 772 families at eight European centres for the research published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Families tried one of five different diets. A separate analysis of the impact on children is to be published in the journal Pediatrics – showing similar results.
The least successful diet sought to enforce low consumption of protein but allowed consumption of carbohydrates – and led to participants adding an average of 1.67kg (3.6 lbs) to their girth.
The aim of the research was to find a sustainable diet that can be used to keep weight down following intense dieting.
The families first spent eight weeks on a very low calorie diet – losing about 11kg (24lbs) per adult.
The researchers, led by Professor Arne Astrup, said a high protein diet made families less likely to drop out – and led to limited weight regain.
Their ideal diet allows unlimited consumption of some fruits such as apples and pears – but not bananas, grapes or pineapple. They say pasta should be eaten cold and not over-cooked.
They write: "A diet consisting of a slightly higher protein content and low-glycaemic index foods appears to be easier to observe and has been documented to ensure that overweight people who have lost weight maintain their weight loss.
"Furthermore, the diet results in a spontaneous drop in the prevalence of overweight among children."
New England Journal of Medicine, published online 25 Nov. 2010.
Pediatrics, Vol. 126, 5 Nov. 2010
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