Weight loss linked to healthy eating not genetics

[Photo: from VCG]

A study has found that the amount and quality of food and not a person's genetics will lead to weight loss.

It has been suggested that variations in genetic makeup make it easier for some people to lose weight than others on certain diets.

To test this theory, researchers at Stanford University conducted a randomized control trial involving 609 overweight adults, who all underwent genetic and insulin testing before being randomly assigned to either a low-fat or low-carb diet for 12 months.

Gene analyses identified variations linked with how the body processes fats or carbohydrates. But weight loss averaged around 5kg to 6kg at follow-up regardless of genes, insulin levels or diet type.

Researchers say what seemed to make a difference was healthy eating.

Participants who ate the most vegetables and consumed the fewest processed foods, sugary drinks and unhealthy fats lost the most weight.

Prof Lennert Veerman from the School of Medicine at Griffith University in Queensland said the study showed there was probably no such thing as a diet right for a particular genetic make-up.

Veerman said,"We eat to fill our stomach and, if that's with vegetables, we tend to lose weight, whereas if it's with chocolate or French fries, flushed down with a soda, we gain weight."  

[The audio clip is from Studio+, produced by CRI] 

(News source: Australian Associated Press)