Success of low-calorie diets are remarkably poor noted Albert Stunkard in 1959, notes Gary Taubes

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In 1959, psychologist Albert Stunkard found that the success of low-calorie diets were 'remarkably similar and remarkably poor', notes Gary Taubes in Chapter Two of his excellent book Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It. Stunkard, 1959, Results of 100 Obese Patients on Low-Calorie Diet

Stunkard, 1959, Results of 100 Obese Patients : 12% lost 20 lbs, 1% lost 40 lbs, and only 2% maintained weight loss after two years

Stunkard also reported that out of 100 obese patients who he prescribed a balanced low-caloried diet of 800 to 1500 calories per day, that only 12%—12 of these 100 obese patients—lost 20 pounds; only 1% of patients lost 40 pounds; and after two years, only two of patients—2%—had maintained their weight loss.

 

Quote from Why We Get Fat

Here is what Gary Taubes wrote about it

Here is what Taubes wrote.

“The very first time anyone published a review of the efficacy of undereating as a treatment for obesity—the psychologist Albert Stunkard and his colleague Mavis McLaren-Hume, in 1959—this was their conclusion. Nothing much has changed since.

 

People Assume Low-Calorie Diets Are Effective and Easy

People assume low-calorie diets are effective and easy; they’re not

“Stunkard said their study was motivated by what he called the ‘paradox’ between his own failure to treat obese patients successfully at his New York Hospital clinic by restricting how much they eat and ‘the widespread assumption that such treatment was easy and effective.’

“Stunkard and McLaren-Hume combed the medical literature and managed to find eight articles in which physicians reported on their success rates treating obese and overweight patients in their clinics.

 

Results of Low-Calorie Diets

Results of low-calorie diets are remarkably poor

“The results, said Stunkard, were ‘remarkably similar and remarkably poor.’

“Most of these clinics were prescribing diets that allowed only eight hundred or one thousand calories a day—maybe half what the [Women’s Health Initiative (WHI)] women said they were eating—and still only one in four patients ever lost as much as twenty pounds; only one in twenty patients managed to lose as much as forty pounds.

 

1959 Stunkard Study Results of 100 Obese Patients on Low-Calorie Diet

1959 Stunkard Study Results of 100 Obese Patients on Low-Calorie Diet : 12 lost 20 lbs, only one lost 40 lbs, and only 2 out of the 100 maintained weight loss after two years

“Stunkard also reported on his own experience prescribing ‘balanced diets’ of eight hundred to fifteen hundred calories a day [ 800 to 1500 calories per day ] to a hundred obese patients in his own clinic: only twelve lost as much as twenty pounds, and only one lost forty pounds.

“Two years after the end of treatment,” Stunkard wrote, “only two patients had maintained their weight loss.”

 

This is a MUST-READ Book

This is MUST-READ book for anyone interested in body weight

This is MUST-READ book for anyone interested in body weight… or anyone who believes that saturated fat is bad for you… or anyone who believes that carbohydrates are good for you… or anyone who believes that obesity is caused by a lack of will power… or anyone who believes that obesity is caused by eating too much and exercising too little (yes, of course this is true, but this does not answer the question as to why people eat too much and exercise too little, which Taubes answers in this book).

I highly recommend this book.

Gary Taubes is an excellent science journalist.

His previous books include “Good Calories, Bad Calories”, a longer book which is also about low-carb diets, but is a much longer book.

 

Other Articles from This Book, Why We Get Fat

Articles from Gary Taubes current book, Why We Get Fat

Gaining 5 lbs of muscle only burns an extra 24 calories per day notes Gary Taubes

Two obesity experts failed to mention that women lost no weight training for a marathon, Gary Taubes

The idea that exercise causes weight loss ignores the idea of working up an appetite, Gary Taubes

The idea that exercise causes weight loss due to nutritionist Jean Mayer, notes Gary Taubes

Exercise increases appetite notes Gary Taubes

1932 obesity researcher noted that strenuous physical exercise SLOWS weight loss, Gary Taubes

Very little evidence exists to support the belief that exercise affects how fat we are, Gary Taubes

Undereating isn’t a treatment or cure for obesity, only a way to temporarily lose weight Gary Taubes

Low-calorie diets were referred to as ‘semi-starvation’ diets until the 1970’s notes Gary Taubes

Eating less to lose weight simply doesn’t work for more than a few months notes Gary Taubes

Low-calorie diets cause only modest weight loss of 9 or 10 lbs notes Gary Taubes

Success of low-calorie diets are remarkably poor noted Albert Stunkard in 1959, notes Gary Taubes

Fat is associated with poverty, not prosperity notes Gary Taubes

If you want to lose weight, avoid stay away from carbohydrate-rich foods says Gary Taubes

Obesity is the result of a hormonal imbalance—too much insulin—says Gary Taubes

Carbohydrate is driving insulin is driving fat, Gary Taubes

When insulin levels are elevated, we gain fat, when it falls, we release fat to burned, Gary Taubes

It is absurd to think about obesity as caused by overeating, Gary Taubes

We don’t get fat because we eat too much and move too little, Gary Taubes

In 1934, German doctor startled by how many really fat children she saw in New York City

 

Other Articles from Good Calories, Bad Calories

Articles about Gary Taubes previous book, Good Calories, Bad Calories

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Foods to Avoid

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Foods you can eat as much as you want of

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Good calories from meat, fish, fowl, cheese, eggs, butter

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Bad calories from Bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, cereals, corn

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Dietary fat does not cause heart disease

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Carbohydrates cause heart disease due to insulin

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Sugar and high fructose corn syrup are particularly harmful

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Refined carbohydrates cause cancer, Alzheimers, & other diseases

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Obesity is not due to overeating or lack of exercise

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Consuming excess calories does not cause us to grow fatter

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Exercise does not make us lose excess fat; it makes us hungry

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: A hormonal imbalance causes us to get fat

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Insulin regulates fat storage

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Insulin regulates fat storage

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: The fewer carbohydrates we eat, the leaner we will be

 

Contact Info

Contact info for Gary Taubes

Gary Taubes
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Articles on the same subject can be found here:

• Book - Why We Get Fat (by Gary Taubes)

• Low Calorie Diet

• Low Carbohydrate Diets

• Taubes, Gary