Research
Macro partitioning
Reducing dietary fat intake to lower levels spontaneously reduces daily energy consumption by approximately 270 kcal, effectively resetting energy balance and preventing significant weight gain.
You can reduce your calorie intake without counting calories by choosing foods with lower fat content. This often leads to eating less naturally. For example, swapping high-fat snacks for lower-fat alternatives can save you hundreds of calories a day without feeling deprived.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
A meta-analysis of studies on reducing dietary fats by using normal food or food lower in fat concluded that people spontaneously consumed about 270 kcal a day less when following lower fat diets, effectively resetting energy balance at a lower level, thereby avoiding about 15 kg of weight gain.
Why this rating
Based on a meta-analysis of ad libitum dietary intervention studies.
Source
Strategies for preventing obesity
Mike Lean et al. · BMJ · 2006
DOI 10.1136/bmj.333.7575.959
narrative_reviewCited 83×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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