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New research shows that even healthy, young and thin people can benefit from a reduction of 300 calories a day from their diet – a simple lifestyle change that can have a huge impact on heart health.
The strategy could reduce the ravages caused by cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity, they wrote, possibly increasing longevity.
The researchers reported Thursday in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology that people who followed a caloric restriction diet for two years had low blood pressure, reduced total cholesterol, decreased metabolic risk and improved sensitivity to the condition. insulin.
They also lost an average of about 16 pounds, including 71% fat. This is the first medium-term study on caloric restriction in humans.
"The message in this document is: everything is better than what we are doing now. Even more modest caloric restriction may have benefits, "Dr. William E. Kraus, lead author, cardiologist and professor at the Duke University School of Medicine, told TODAY.
"[Cutting] 300 calories is very feasible. "
The study followed 218 people randomly assigned either to cut 25% of their calories from their normal diet for two years, or to continue eating exactly as they had always done during that time.
The participants were 21 to 50 years old, healthy and thin or slightly overweight. Various aspects of their health were measured at baseline, including blood pressure, cholesterol, risk of metabolic syndrome, and insulin resistance.
People who followed this diet had prepared their meals in the clinical centers during the first month to understand what a 25% reduction in daily calories looked like. They also received advice on the basics of caloric restriction – eating a 6 ounce steak rather than an 8 ounce cup, for example. But the researchers did not try to change their basic diet, Kraus said.
Dieters also attended counseling sessions during the first six months of the study.
People in the control group continued their normal diet without any intervention or dietary advice.
Dieters were asked to maintain the 25% reduction in their daily calories for two years, but on average about half, 12% – which is equivalent to eating 300 fewer calories a day. Even with this reduction, their cardiometabolic risk factors have been "dramatically reduced," noted the study. They also lost about 10% of their body weight, mainly fat.
Why would a caloric restriction be so beneficial?
"That's the million dollar question, it's something we really do not know," said Kraus.
"It's not just the weight [change]. There is something else in calorie limitation that seems to have benefits on cardiometabolic factors that we do not really understand. "
But the study also showed how difficult it is for people to eat less in the long run, said Dr. Frank Hu, director of the department of nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Their abandonment rate was more than three times higher than that of control group members. The strategy also required reliably counting calories each day.
Combining caloric restriction with other strategies such as intermittent fasting, a low carb diet or the Mediterranean diet could help people adopt a healthy lifestyle that ensures a lean body in the long run – "the way optimal to promote longevity, "Hu writes. commentary that accompanied the study in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.
How to eliminate 300 calories a day:
The first thing Kraus says to his patients who need to lose weight is:
- Stop eating anything after dinner. Just do not nibble after being pushed off the table.
"It usually fixes the problem," he said. "People come to my clinic and tell me that they have a bowl of ice cream before going to bed and that I'm just having a fit because those calories will not be used – they will be stored – and it's an excessive caloric intake. they do not need it. "
- Identify a non-essential item of your diet that you can easily skip. This is usually a piece of bread containing 100 calories, said Kraus.
- At least in the beginning, count the calories each day to find out what the 300 calories and what you eat. After a while, you will know instinctively what to eat and what to jump.
The caloric restriction diet may require a lot of mental focus and discipline, but can be achieved by eating a variety of low calorie fruits and vegetables, high fiber starch, lean protein from plants and animals, and healthy fats. for the heart, Madelyn Fernstrom, editor-in-chief of NBC News Health and Nutrition.
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