The Hawaiian Diet: People lose 17 lbs in three weeks

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Friday, October 22, 2010 6:45 am Email this article
Twenty native Hawaiians lost an average of 17.2 pounds in three weeks or 6.4 percent of their body weight by following a traditional Hawaiian diet according to a 1991 study (Shintani et al, 1991). Range of Weight Loss

Range of weight loss: 4 to 33 lbs

The range of weight loss was from 4 pounds up to 33 pounds.

 

Diet Composition

Diet Composition: 7% fat, 15% protein, 78% complex carbs

The diet is very low in fat (7 percent), high in complex carbohydrates (78 percent) and moderate in protein (15 percent).

The amount of food was not limited. Subjects were told to eat until they were full.

 

Calorie Intake

Calorie intake fell from 2594 to 1569 per dayt

The average intake decreased by more than 1000 calories per day falling from 2594 calories per day to 1569 calories.

 

Cholesterol

Cholesterol fell from 222 mg/dl to 191 mg/dl

In addition to the weight loss the average total cholesterol dropped from 222 mg/dL to 191 mg/dL.

 

HDL

HDL fell from 38 mg/dl to 35 mg/dl; LDL 147 to 130

HDL and LDL cholesterol also dropped from 38 to 35 mg/dL and 147 to 130 mg/dL, respectively. The drop in HDL was not statistically significant.

 

Blood Pressure

Blood Pressure fell from 134/84 to 122/75 mmHg

The average blood pressure dropped from 134/84 to 122/75 mm Hg.

 

Blood Sugar

Blood Sugar fell from 162 mg/dL to 124 mg/dL

Fasting blood sugar was lower after three weeks having fallen from 162 mg/dL to 124 mg/dL.

 

Subjects

Subjects: 20 obese men and women

The study included ten men and ten women with an average weight of 262 pounds and body mass index of 39.6.

 

Rate Of Weight Loss

Rate of Weight Loss: 5.7 lbs per week

The average rate of weight loss of 5.7 pounds per week is greater than other studies which have used low energy density diets which have averaged from 0.5 to 1.5 pounds per week according to the authors.

They suggested that this may be due to The Hawaiian Diet being lower in fat than in the other studies (7 percent versus 15-23 percent, respectively), higher in carbohydrates, early water loss due the diet being low in sodium, and the participants being heavier to start with.

 

Food Eaten

Food Eaten: All raw or steamed

The selection of foods that were eaten included taro (a starchy root-like potato), poi (a mashed form of taro), sweet potato, yams, breadfruit, greens (fern shoots and leaves of taro), fruit, seaweed, fish, and chicken.

All of the foods were served either raw or steamed. The amount of chicken and fish were limited to 5 to 7 ounces per day.

 

Calorie Density

Calorie Density: 0.8 calories per gram

The energy density of The Hawaiian Diet is low containing only 0.83 calories per gram of food.

Adherence to the diet was excellent, however this may have been due to strict monitoring by health professions according to the authors of the paper.

 

Long-term Weight Loss

Long-term Weight Loss: 12-18 lbs loss maintained for up to seven years

After the initial study was performed additional groups were studied and followed over the past nine years.

The amount of weight loss that was maintained for subjects who had been on the diet from one to 7.5 years was

• 13.9 pounds initially;
• 15 pounds for those who had been on the diet for one to two years;
• 15.4 pounds for those who had followed the program for two to four years;
• 12.1 pounds for those on the program for four to six years; and
• 18.3 pounds for those who had been on the program for six to eight years.

The follow-up was for an average roughly three years and included 82 people.

This amount of long-term maintained weight loss is better than in most studies.

In a five year follow-up of a study which included the use of a very-low-calorie diet plus behavior modification 27 percent maintained a weight loss of at least 11 pounds and 9 percent maintained a weight loss of at least 22 pounds (Wadden et al, 1989).

 

Previous Study

Previous study found low-fat best for maintenance

A previous study found that eating a low-fat ad lib diet helped subjects maintain an average weight loss that was three times greater than those who counted calories two years after initially losing weight (17.8 pounds vs 5.5 pounds, respectively) (Toubro et al, 1997).

 

Two-thirds weighed less

Two-thirds of patients weighed less

Two-thirds of patients (55 of 82) weighed less during follow-up than they did when the study began.

Half (43 of 82) weighed at least 10 pounds less than they did at the start of the study, one-third (24 of 82) weighed at least 20 pounds less than at the start, and one-sixth (15 of 82) weighed at least 30 pounds less than when they started.

The largest amount of weight loss was 174 pounds in one person and 117 pounds in another.

The greatest amount of weight gain was 31 pounds.

REFERENCES

Shintani TT; Hughes CK; Beckham S; O’Connor HK. Obesity and cardiovascular risk intervention through the ad libitum feeding of traditional Hawaiian diet. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1991 Jun, 53(6 Suppl):1647S-1651S.

Shintani T; Beckham S; Tang J; O’Connor HK; Hughes C. Waianae Diet Program: long-term follow-up. Hawaii Medical Journal, 1999 May, 58(5):117-22.

Toubro S, Astrup A. Randomised comparison of diets for maintaining obese subjects’ weight after major weight loss: ad lib, low fat, high carbohydrate diet v fixed energy intake. Bmj, 1997 Jan 4, 314(7073):29-34.

Wadden TA; Sternberg JA; Letizia KA; Stunkard AJ; Foster GD. Treatment of obesity by very low calorie diet, behavior therapy, and their combination: a five-year perspective. International Journal of Obesity, 1989;13 Suppl 2:39-46.

Articles on the same subject can be found here:

• Hawaiian Diet

• Low Fat Diets