Research
Macro partitioning
Low-fat diets are associated with continuing weight loss for up to 3 years, prevention of type 2 diabetes, and improved control of hypertension.
Adopting a low-fat diet, potentially with a 600 kcal/day deficit, can help you lose about 5.3 kg in the first year and continue losing weight for up to 3 years, while helping prevent type 2 diabetes and control hypertension.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Low-fat diets were associated with continuing weight loss for 3 years and improvements in risk factors, as well as prevention of type 2 diabetes and improved control of hypertension.
Why this rating
Based on systematic review of RCTs, though the authors note limitations in sample size and reporting.
Source
Systematic review of the long-term effects and economic consequences of treatments for obesity and implications for health improvement
Alison Avenell et al. · Health Technology Assessment · 2004
DOI 10.3310/hta8210
Meta-analysisCited 1,037×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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Related findings · Macro partitioning
- Total daily protein intake of 1.6 g/kg/day is sufficient for maximizing resistance training-induced muscle gains, with an upper confidence interval of 2.2 g/kg/day.Strong
- Resistance exercise training combined with sufficient dietary protein intake acts synergistically to maximize skeletal muscle hypertrophy, with protein intake saturating around 1.6 g/kg/day for general populations and potentially requiring 2.0-2.2 g/kg/day for resistance-trained individuals.Strong
- Trans fats should be completely eliminated from the diet, as they increase LDL cholesterol, decrease HDL cholesterol, and are directly associated with increased coronary risk.Strong
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