In one of the most comprehensive and rigorous analysis of 31 long term diet research studies, UCLA researchers undenyingly concluded that diets don’t work. While diets may help you lose 5 to 10% of your weight initially, this comprehensive analysis showed that most people gain all of their weight back AND MORE within several years.
Furthermore, the UCLA study concluded:
- Most people would’ve been better off not dieting at all. Their weight would’ve remained the same, and their bodies would not have suffered from the rapid weight loss and weight gain.
- Although this study paints a terrible picture of dieting, the actual effectiveness of diets is probably much worse, as many of the diet studies examined biased the diets to look more effective than they actually were.
- Most remarkably, one study of over 19,000 men showed that one of the best predictors of weight gain over the years of the study was having lost weight on a previous diet. Another study showed that both men and women who participated in a formal weight loss program gained significantly more weight over a two year period than those who had not participated in a weight loss program.
- Even when followed for four years, dieters continued to regain the weight lost on the initial diet.
Need any more reasons to stop dieting, start exercising and eating well?