(Press-News.org) BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL, October 11, 2012 -- Mediterranean and low-carbohydrate diets have lasting, healthy effects, even with partial weight regain, according to a follow-up study by researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and Israel's Nuclear Research Center.
The results were published in a peer-reviewed letter in the current New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) as an update to the landmark study, the workplace-based Dietary Intervention Randomized Controlled Trial (DIRECT), a tightly controlled 24-month dietary intervention.
According to Dr. Dan Schwarzfuchs from the Nuclear Research Center Negev in Dimona, Israel, "Our follow-up subsequent data shows lasting, positive effects of Mediterranean and low-carbohydrate diets six years later." The results suggest that the lipid profile (lower cholesterol, triglycerides and arteriosclerosis) improved for the long term, regardless of partial regain. "Data from trials comparing the effectiveness of weight-loss diets are frequently limited to the intervention period," explains BGU Prof. Iris Shai.
Overall six-year weight loss was significantly lower from baseline for Mediterranean and low-carbohydrate diets, but not for the low-fat group. In the four-year post-intervention, participants regained nearly six pounds. Total weight change for the entire six-year period was approximately -7 lbs. for the Mediterranean diet and -3.7 lbs. for the low-carbohydrate diet.
After four years post-intervention, more than two-thirds (67 percent) of the DIRECT participants had continued with their original assigned diet, 11 percent switched to another diet and 22 percent were not dieting at all.
The researchers also found that after six years, the HDL/LDL ratio remained significantly lower only in the low-carbohydrate diet. Triglyceride levels remained significantly lower in the Mediterranean and low-carbohydrate diets. Overall, total cholesterol levels remained persistently and significantly lower in all diet groups as compared to baseline.
In the original study, 322 moderately obese subjects were randomly assigned to one of three diets: low-fat; restricted-calorie; Mediterranean; or low-carbohydrate, non-restricted-calorie, and were provided color-labeled food per diet daily in the workplace cafeteria. The two-year adherence rate was 85 percent. The results suggested beneficial metabolic effects to low-carb and Mediterranean diets. Moreover, the researchers found a significant diet-induced regression in the carotid vessel wall volume across all diet groups. This change was mainly dependent on diet-induced reduction of blood pressure.
"This breakthrough, even years later, continues to yield valuable information that can help every one of us make healthier diet choices," says Doron Krakow, executive vice president of American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. "It is another example of BGU and Israeli researchers, thanks to generous funding by the Atkins foundation, improving the quality of our lives."
This research was supported by the Nuclear Research Center Negev; the Chief Scientist Office of the Israel Ministry of Health (Project No. 300000-4850); and the Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Research Foundation in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania.
###About American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU) plays a vital role in sustaining David Ben-Gurion's vision, creating a world-class institution of education and research in the Israeli desert, nurturing the Negev community and sharing the University's expertise locally and around the globe. With some 20,000 students on campuses in Beer-Sheva, Sede Boqer and Eilat in Israel's southern desert, BGU is a university with a conscience, where the highest academic standards are integrated with community involvement, committed to sustainable development of the Negev. AABGU is headquartered in Manhattan and has nine regional offices throughout the U.S. For more information, visit www.aabgu.org.
Healthy diets have long-lasting positive effects even with partial weight regain
2012-10-11
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Yellowstone wolf study reveals how to raise successful offspring
2012-10-11
What are the key ingredients to raising successful, self-sufficient offspring? A new life sciences study using 14 years of data on gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park indicates that cooperative group behavior and a mother's weight are crucial.
"A female's body weight is key in the survival of her offspring, and cooperation in the protection and feeding of young pups pays off in terms of the production of offspring," said Robert Wayne, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA and co-author of the new research, published this week in the online edition ...
Brain scans can predict children's reading ability, Stanford researchers say
2012-10-11
If a 7-year-old is breezing through the "Harry Potter" books, studies indicate that he or she will be a strong reader later in life. Conversely, if a 7-year-old is struggling with "The Cat in the Hat," that child will most likely struggle with reading going forward.
New research from Stanford shows that brain scans can identify the neural differences between these two children, and could one day lead to an early warning system for struggling students.
The researchers scanned the brain anatomy of 39 children once a year for three consecutive years. The students then ...
Women use emoticons more than men in text messaging :-)
2012-10-11
Women are twice as likely as men to use emoticons in text messages, according to a new study from Rice University.
Emoticons are graphic symbols that use punctuation marks and letters to represent facial expressions to convey a person's mood, help provide context to a person's textual communication and clarify a message that could otherwise possibly be misconstrued.
The study, "A Longitudinal Study of Emoticon Use in Text Messaging from Smartphones," used smartphone data from men and women over six months and aggregated 124,000 text messages. The participants were ...
Novel mechanisms underlying major childhood neuromuscular disease identified
2012-10-11
New York, NY (October 11, 2012) — A study by scientists from the Motor Neuron Center at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) suggests that spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a genetic neuromuscular disease in infants and children, results primarily from motor circuit dysfunction, not motor neuron or muscle cell dysfunction, as is commonly thought. In a second study, the researchers identified the molecular pathway in SMA that leads to problems with motor function. Findings from the studies, conducted in fruit fly, zebrafish and mouse models of SMA, could lead to therapies ...
Diverse intestinal viruses may play a role in AIDS progression
2012-10-11
In monkeys and humans with AIDS, damage to the gastrointestinal tract is common, contributing to activation of the immune system, progressive immune deficiency, and ultimately advanced AIDS. How this gastric damage occurs has remained a mystery, but now researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Cell provide new clues, implicating the presence of potentially pathogenic virus species other than the main virus that causes AIDS. The findings could provide an opportunity to explain and eventually intervene in the processes that lead to AIDS progression.
To investigate ...
Stopping the itch -- new clues into how to treat eczema
2012-10-11
More than 15% of children suffer with eczema, or atopic dermatitis, an inflammatory skin disease that in some cases can be debilitating and disfiguring. Researchers reporting in the October issue of Immunity have discovered a potential new target for the condition, demonstrating that by blocking it, they can lessen the disease in mice.
In eczema, immune T cells invade the skin and secrete factors that drive an allergic response, making the skin itch. Dr. Raif Geha, of Boston Children's Hospital, and his collaborators now show that scratching the skin precipitates the ...
New report calls for global efforts to prevent fragility fractures due to osteoporosis
2012-10-11
Today, the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) released a new report, revealing approximately 80 percent of patients treated in clinics or hospitals following a fracture are not screened for osteoporosis or risk of future falls. Left untreated, these patients are at high risk of suffering secondary fractures and facing a future of pain, disfigurement, long-term disability and even early death.
The report 'Capture the Fracture – A global campaign to break the fragility fracture cycle' calls for concerted worldwide efforts to stop secondary fractures due to osteoporosis ...
Target for obesity drugs comes into focus
2012-10-11
ANN ARBOR—Researchers at the University of Michigan have determined how the hormone leptin, an important regulator of metabolism and body weight, interacts with a key receptor in the brain.
Leptin is a hormone secreted by fat tissue that has been of interest for researchers in obesity and Type 2 diabetes since it was discovered in 1995. Like insulin, leptin is part of a regulatory network that controls intake and expenditure of energy in the body, and a lack of leptin or resistance to it has been linked to obesity in people.
Although there can be several complex reasons ...
Large international study finds 21 genes tied to cholesterol levels
2012-10-11
In the largest-ever genetic study of cholesterol and other blood lipids, an international consortium has identified 21 new gene variants associated with risks of heart disease and metabolic disorders. The findings expand the list of potential targets for drugs and other treatments for lipid-related cardiovascular disease, a leading global cause of death and disability.
The International IBC Lipid Genetics Consortium used the Cardiochip, a gene analysis tool invented by Brendan J. Keating, Ph.D., a scientist at the Center for Applied Genomics at The Children's Hospital ...
Feeding the Schwanns: New technique could bring cell therapy for nerve damage a step closer
2012-10-11
A new way to grow cells vital for nerve repair, developed by researchers from the University of Sheffield, could be a vital step for use in patients with severe nerve damage, including spinal injury (1).
Schwann cells are known to boost and amplify nerve growth in animal models, but their clinical use has been held back because they are difficult, time-consuming and costly to culture.
The Sheffield team, led by Professor John Haycock, has developed a new technique with adult rat tissue which overcomes all these problems, producing Schwann cells in less than half the time ...