Could one simple dietary change be the easiest way to shed pounds and fight diabetes?
A recent study suggests a high-fiber diet could lead to significant weight loss and also comes with a number of other health benefits, the University of Massachusetts Medical School reported.
A team of researchers compared the weight loss and dietary quality of participants following the American Heart Association diet to those consuming a simple high-fiber diet. The team found that while those on the AHA diet lost slightly more weight, both were effective at burning off the pounds, lowering blood pressure, and keeping diabetes at bay.
"The more complex AHA diet resulted in slightly larger (but not statistically significant) weight loss, but a simplified approach emphasizing only increased fiber intake may be a reasonable alternative for individuals who find it difficult adhering to a more complicated diet," said Dr. Yunsheng Ma, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine.
To make their findings the team of researchers looked at 240 adults developing type 2 diabetes, half of which were assigned to follow the AHA diet and the other half a high-fiber diet. Those on the high- fiber diet were instructed to increase their intake to 30 grams per day, while the AHA diet included 13 guidelines. The researchers predicted the simple high-fiber diet would have a greater effect because it would be easier to follow.
"A high fiber diet can be filling and tasty, making it a pleasure to eat while losing weight and improving health and wellbeing," said Barbara Olendzki, assistant professor of medicine and co-investigator on the study.
On average, participants on the AHA diet lost six pounds after 12 months and the high fiber individuals lost 4.6 pounds; all of the participants saw a drop in blood pressure and improvement in insulin resistance, which helps fight diabetes.
"We found that increasing dietary fiber was accompanied by a host of other healthy dietary changes, likely because high fiber foods displaced unhealthy foods in the diet. Asking people to make one dietary change can have collateral effects on the rest of their diet. We hope to study this further," said Sherry Pagoto, associate professor of medicine and co-investigator on the study.
The findings were published in a recent edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
