Can You Really Lose Weight on a High-Fat Diet

Can you really lose weight on a high-fat diet? Recent research from Denmark says the answer is yes, but it won't be easy to keep the weight off once you stop.

A team of researchers from four Danish medical facilities did a six-month study of enhanced-fat, low-fat, and calorie-reduced diets to see not only how successful dieters were at losing weight and keeping it off, but also how their diets affected cardiovascular risk factors and blood sugars. Their test subjects were aged 25 to 35.

All dieters lost weight, and all dieters regained some weight when they stopped dieting. The amount of weight regained was lower among dieters who had followed low-fat diets or a high-fat diet in which the added fat came from olive oil and fish. Dieters who just ate less of their regular high-fat diets regained the most weight when they stopped their portion control.

There was also a difference in cholesterol levels. The lowest cholesterol was found in the group that ate the most fat, and the highest cholesterol was found in the low-fat dieters.

This may seem counterintuitive, but there's a reason why. The human body makes most of its own cholesterol, and "flushes" the excess away through the bile. The more mono-saturated fatty acids (like those in olive oil) you consume, the easier it is for the excess cholesterol your body makes to be removed with bile salts.

And the group that ate the most healthy fat had the lowest insulin levels. Increased insulin levels is often a prelude to insulin resistance that leads to diabetes.

So a dash of olive oil for dressing your diet salad seems to be a good idea. Just be forewarned that of all the approaches to losing weight, adding healthy fat seems to be hardest plan to stick to. But if you have any risk factors for diabetes, it's probably the best.

Source: Anette Due, Thomas M Larsen, Huiling Mu, Kjeld Hermansen, Steen Stender and Arne Astrup Comparison of 3 ad libitum diets for weight-loss maintenance, risk of cardiovascular disease, and diabetes: a 6-mo randomized, controlled trial American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 88, No. 5, 1232-1241, November 2008.