Forget fad diets.

According to new research, the best way to drop pounds (along with exercise, of course) is by reducing the number of calories you consume—regardless of where they come from. Researchers followed more than 800 overweight and obese men and women for two years as they embarked on one of four diets. Each diet combined different percentages of fat, protein, and carbohydrates, but all slashed about 750 calories from participants’ usual daily intake. At the six-month mark, dieters in each group had lost an average of 13 pounds. By the end of the two-year study, participants on all of the diets had lost and kept off an average of 9 pounds and reduced risk factors for heart attack, stroke, and diabetes. Participants in all four groups rated their levels of cravings, hunger, and satisfaction equally, suggesting each diet was as easy (or difficult) as the next to maintain. The bottom line, say the study’s authors: Cutting calories—whether you do so by reducing carbs, trimming fat, or going vegetarian—has the biggest impact on long-term weight loss.
Source: New England Journal of Medicine, Feb. 26, 2009