Researchers at the University of Massachusetts say that just eating more fiber can be a more effective way to lose weight than more complex diets, such as the American Heart Association diet, which includes 13 different guidelines.
Researchers monitored 240 patients for a year, all of whom were at risk for type 2 diabetes. Half were randomly selected to increase their fiber consumption by 30 grams a day, while the others followed the AHA diet. On average, those following the AHA diet lost six pounds, while those on the high-fiber diet lost only 4.6 pounds. Both approaches helped patients lower their blood pressure and helped to improve insulin regulation.
But the scientists noted that the high-fiber diet was much easier for people to follow and also led to healthy dietary changes. Dr. Sherry Pagoto, one of researchers involved in the study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, said, "We found that increasing dietary fiber was accompanied by a host of other healthy dietary changes, likely because high-fiber foods displaced unhealthy foods in the diet. Asking people to make one dietary change can have collateral effects on the rest of their diet."
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Sourced from: Medical News Today, Simply eating more fiber could boost weight loss