How to lose fat - where do I start?
There is so much conflicting advice and tips about how to lose fat and gain muscle. It can be difficult to know who to listen to. However, when it comes to losing fat and gaining muscle, the scientific research about diets and dietary intake doesn't lie. If you want to know how to lose fat and gain muscle, there are some great diet tips for success that can be found in scholarly research investigations. Successfully losing fat and gaining muscle may just be the most rewarding thing you do to feel good and look great.
How to lose fat - Fad diets aren't the solution
Fad diets are a dime a dozen on the web, but I'm afraid they usually do not lead to sustained fat loss. The severe restrictions on the amount of calories you can eat are difficult to sustain and legitimate concerns have been raised about the safety of some fad diets.(1) Some forms of dieting, particularly those with extremely low calories can reduce your metabolism (the amount of energy your body burns to maintain itself). This is terrible if you want sustained fat loss.
How to lose fat - Don't ruin your metabolism
To lose fat, you will need dietary intake that meets your body's nutrient requirements for good health (vitamins, minerals, protein etc.). However, you will need to consume less calories than your body uses in a way that does not decrease your metabolism. In other words, you want to eat less calories than you burn... without your body making adaptations to reduce the amount of energy it burns. A good tip is to spread your meals into 5 or 6 small meals rather than 3 large meals (breakfast lunch tea). This is a good approach to maintain a fast metabolism. Just make sure you don't end up eating more calories than you burn.
Low Carb, Low Protein or Low Fat diets?
Calories (or energy) in food come primarily come from three macronutrients, Carbohydrates (carbs), Protein and Fat. Carbs and protein both contain approximately 4 calories per gram, whereas fat contains approximately 9 calories per gram. The amount of calories you consume is dependent on the amount of carbs, protein and fat you consume in your diet (remember this includes your drinks). Although some people may find it easier to maintain lower calorie intake when they stick to a certain type of diet (often low fat, or low carb), a systematic review of many studies found evidence that fat loss is dependent on the amount of calories you consume, but it didn't matter what proportion of carb, protein or fat made up their diet.(2)
How to lose fat and gain muscle - Diet summary
So your dietary intake of calories must be less than your body burns (in order for you to lose fat), but the evidence does not suggest that either low fat or low carb will result in more fat loss than the other.(3) However, if you are looking to build muscle, a low protein diet would not be advisable. Your body needs protein to build muscle. It's worth noting though that the amount of muscle you build is more dependent on the exercise you do, than the food you eat. Nonetheless both diet and exercise play central roles in helping you to lose fat and build muscle.
Dr. Michael McPhail is a clinical researcher with a fervent dislike of health and fitness scams and bad health advice. He is interested in promoting better health and wellbeing. He writes reviews for websites reviewing health, fitness and weight loss related programs that are available online. If you are primarily interested in weight loss, check out his reviews here. If are primarily interested in gaining muscle you can check out his reviewshere.
References
1. Baldwin EJ. Fad diets in diabetes. Br J Diabetes Vasc DIs 2004;4:333-7.
2. Sacks FM, Bray GA, Carey VJ et al. Comparison of weight-loss diets with different compositions of fat, protein, and carbohydrates. N Engl J Med 2009;360:859-73.
3. Day C, Bailey C. Which weight loss diet? Br J Diabetes Vasc DIs 2009,9:43
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