THURSDAY, Dec. 6 (HealthDay News) — The key to a slimmer figure is not necessarily dieting, but just cutting back on fat intake, a new British study suggests.
Researchers from the University of East Anglia found that simply replacing high-fat foods with low-fat alternatives helped people lose roughly 3.5 pounds. Reducing fat intake also resulted in lower blood pressure and improved cholesterol levels. The study authors suggested that the findings may play a critical role in global dietary recommendations, because being overweight or obese increases the risk for many cancers, heart disease and stroke.
The study was published Dec. 7 in the journal BMJ.
The researchers reviewed 33 randomized, controlled trials in North America, Europe and New Zealand that involved over 73,500 men, women and children with a variety of health histories. A randomized, controlled study is one in which people are randomly assigned to different groups: one group receives the treatment and the other does not receive the treatment (the “control” group).
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