If you would want to maximize your weight loss, you might want someone else choose the diet for you. For it to be more effective, you may want to let your doctor choose your diet plan rather than choosing your own, experts say.
In a new study, researchers found out that people who choose the type of diet they will follow lost less weight than those who followed what their doctors planned for their diet. The researchers analyzed data from 105 people who were trying to lose weight. They were allowed to choose their own diet while a separate group consisting of 102 people were assigned a diet by their doctor, LA Times reports.
"Providing a choice of diets to patients does not enhance and may actually hinder weight loss," wrote Dr. William S. Yancy of Duke University and the Durham VA Medical Center and coauthors in a study released Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Live Science reports that the researchers think that the reason why people may lose less weight when they choose their diet is that they may choose a plan that is more convenient for them. Furthermore, chances are, they will choose a diet with all the foods they like to eat causing overeating and noncompliance with the said diet.
Dr. Yancy said that among the participants, 58% chose a low-carb diet while 42% chose a low-fat diet. The other group, however, 52% were assigned a low-fat diet while the remaining 48% was assigned a low- carb diet.
After they followed their plans for 12 months, those who chose their diet lost just 12.6 pounds while those who were assigned their diets lost 14.7 pounds.
"People might adhere to a diet better if it has foods that they prefer, but they actually might overeat those foods, and that might be to their detriment," Yancy told Live Science.
