Energy balance
Switching from a healthy low-fat diet to a healthy low-carbohydrate diet (or vice versa) after 6 months of weight loss does not result in renewed or accelerated weight loss compared to continuing the initial diet.
If you hit a weight loss plateau after 6 months, simply switching from a low-fat diet to a low-carb diet (or vice versa) is unlikely to restart weight loss. The body's physiological response to weight loss (slower metabolism, increased hunger) persists regardless of the specific macronutrient composition of a 'healthy' diet. Focus on maintaining the deficit and behavioral adherence rather than expecting a diet switch to magically overcome the plateau.
Switching diets after 6‑months does not result in renewed weight loss: a secondary analysis of a 12‑month crossover randomized trial... After switching diets at 6 months, weight modestly decreased until 9 months, but at a rate slower than the initial 3 months and slower than the rate from 3 to 6 months. This suggests that the weight loss plateau typically seen at 6 months is physiological and cannot be overcome by simply switching to a different weight‑loss diet.
Why this rating
Randomized crossover trial with 42 participants, though the sample size is small and the study was a pilot/exploratory secondary analysis.
Source
Switching diets after 6-months does not result in renewed weight loss: a secondary analysis of a 12-month crossover randomized trial
Matthew J. Landry et al. · Scientific Reports · 2024
DOI 10.1038/s41598-024-60547-z
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