Weight Loss & Low Sucrose Diets
Weight Loss Study Aim
To compare the response by overweight individuals, counselled in a work
environment, to energy-reduced diets in which the amount of sucrose-containing
foods is varied.
Weight Loss Study Method
Two energy-reduced diets were designed as a weight-reducing program. A
low-sugar diet (LSD) providing 5 percent of its energy from sucrose and
a sugar-containing diet (SCD) providing 10 percent of its energy from
sucrose incorporated as sweet foods were devised. Both diets were constructed
to contain about 33 percent of the energy from fat. The diets, designed
to provide a deficit of 2.51 MJ/day (600 kcal/day) per individual, were
randomly allocated to subjects in an 8-week parallel design study.
Weight Loss Study Subjects
Ninety-five subjects were recruited from a large service industry if they
were more than 7 kg (1 stone) in weight above body mass index (BMI) 25
kg/m2. Sixty-eight subjects completed the program.
Weight Loss Study Measurements
Fortnightly body weight measurements were taken using calibrated scales;
BMI at baseline and week 8; and nutrient intake using 2-day food record
diaries at baseline and weeks 2, 4 and 8.
Weight Loss Study Results
Weight loss over the 8 weeks was 2.2 kg (LSD) and 3.0 kg (SCD). BMI changed
from 29.2 on the LSD and 30.1 kg/m2 SCD at baseline to 28.2 and 28.8 kg/m2
at week 8 respectively. The actual prescribed commercially added sucrose
intakes were 5 percent energy (LSD) or 10 percent energy (SCD). Reported
percentage energy from fat was significantly lower on the SCD (and would
seem to support the theory of an inverse relationship between fat and
sugar) than on the LSD, where there was seen to be no significant reduction.
There was no evidence of micronutrient dilution that could be directly
attributed to the sucrose content of the diets.
Weight Loss Study Conclusion
These results provide no justification for the exclusion of added sucrose
in weight-reducing diets.
Source: International Journal of Obesity
(2001)
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