christyz

Everyone has an opinion on this subject. Is a calorie-reduced diet alone best for fat loss? Or is exercise better?

Researchers have compared the two in a new study - and whether diet alone OR diet + exercise - the results were the same.

The research appears in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (abstract).

The Test
35 overweight but otherwise healthy individuals took part. They were split into two groups. One group reduced calories by 25%. The other group reduced calories by 12.5% and increased physical activity enough to burn an extra 12.5% in calories.

Outcome
Participants lost

10% of body weight
~24% of body fat
27% of abdominal visceral fat
whole body and abdominal fat distribution were not altered by the intervention (i.e. no spot reducing occurred).
The study author (Dr Ravussin) presents some (in my opinion) controversial points

Ravussin has published other studies that also dispute the idea that exercise builds muscle that helps people lose weight.

"If anything, highly trained people are highly efficient, so they burn fewer calories at rest," Ravussin said.

Dieting alone also did not appear to cause the volunteers to lose muscle mass along with fat, Ravussin's team found.

"There is a concept that if you exercise, you are going to lose less of your muscle," he said. But his team found no evidence this is true".

http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/20...r_exercise.php

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Christy

33 yrs, 1 precious hubby, 2 miracle kids, At Goal Wt for 4 yrs, Trygly's down 445 pts, Free Androgen down from 20 to 2, 3 half 'thons ran, 2 mtns hiked, 1 crazy run in the Rockies, 4 forest trail races, profiled in 2 magazines...1 woman determined to kick PCOS butt!


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naturaljoy

They had an article about this at CNN.com this weekend:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/diet....eut/index.html

I found the conclusions strange too! Definitely flies in the face of what we've been told, not sure what ot make of it other than - hey, do both healthy eating and exercise and you can't go wrong .

Joy

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Joy
Running Mama to Three Crazy Kids: Sam/8, Sara/5, Katy/5

KatCarney

The article at CNN was from Reuters (which is where most other media outlets took the story.) Reuters is NOTORIOUS for getting nuances of stories wrong, to the point of distorting the story.

For starters, most media outlets led with the headline, "Which is better for weight loss: Diet or Exercise - a new study answers the question"

That is NOT what the study was about.

It was to examine the effect of DIET ALONE vs DIET and EXERICSE

Each group had a calorie deficit of 25% over the course of the study, and lost (about) the same % of weight.

The researchers found that all of the participants lost 'some' 'fat free' mass (the dieters AND the diet/exercisers).

In the media, it's being reported that the exercise didn't 'protect' the lean muscle mass, but it's worth pointing out that the exercisers ONLY did cardio. Their routines did not include strength training...so I don't know why the researchers would have thought that walking on a treadmill would 'preserve muscle mass'.

The 'real' conclusion of the story is that calorie deficit 'works' - no matter how you create it, and that no method can 'spot' reduce bodyfat. Fat distribution is genetically determined. (Much of the study was about looking at 'where' the participants lost their bodyfat')

The authors also go on to say that the best method for weight loss is a combination of diet AND exercise because exercise has metabolic and cardiovascular benefits.

As is the case with any Reuters story...it's always best to read the full study report.
http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/rap...jc.2006-2184v1

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