Low Fat Diet Plan - Or Do Low Carb Diets Work Better?

The debate between low fat diet plan and low carb diets continues. And while both plans, when followed faithfully, can have you losing weight, a recent study out of Australia should help you make the choice between the two when it comes to how you'll feel while following these eating plans.

The work, appearing in the Archives of Internal Medicine, finds a short-term improvement in mood for those following both diet plans, but mood improvements didn't linger for low carb dieters. Score one for low fat diets!

The research involved 106 overweight or obese Australian adults of an average age of 50 years old. Randomly divided into two groups, one group was assigned a low fat diet plan they would follow for one year, while the other group was told to follow a low carb diet during the same period of time. Here's a breakdown of the two diet plans, both with the same daily calorie budget used in the study:

- Low-fat diet: 46% of calories from carbs, 24% of calories from protein and 30% of calories from fat (less than 8% from saturated fat).

- Low-carb diet: 4% of calories from carbs, 35% of calories from protein and 61% of calories from fat.

Mood was measured during the study by evaluating subjects' total mood disturbance, anger-hostility, confusion-bewilderment and depression-dejection as well as cognitive functioning.

Subjects on both diet plans also met regularly with a dietitian during the study. At the end of the year, both diet groups had lost the same amount of weight - almost 30 pounds. A nice, solid weight loss.

However, when it came to mood, at first the mood measures in both groups improved, which is no surprise since the researchers expected mood to get better as the subjects saw the pounds drop off. After all, we all know how seeing results is a huge boost.

But the improved mood didn't last for those on the low carb diet. By the end of the study, their mood was right where it had been before the diet started.

The mood improvements did last for the dieters following the low fat diet.

And though it's not clear why the mood benefits dropped off for those in the low carb group, the researchers believe that the low carb diet plan might be too hard, and too different from how the subjects were used to eating. Over time, eating this way is likely to become a burden... a lot of work and sacrifice that can be hard to maintain.

"Although, in the short term, participants may have been able to meet the challenges presented by this dietary pattern, over the longer term, it may have increased participant isolation, leading to the negative impact on mood state that may provide a possible explanation for the effects that were observed," explains Grant Brinkworth, PhD of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization located in Adelaide, Australia.

So, if you have a few (or more than a few) pounds to lose, and you're trying to decide on either a low fat diet plan or low carb plan, these findings suggest low fat diets might be a better choice when it comes lo dropping those pounds and keeping your spirits up.

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