PAGE\*MERGEFORMAT3Low-carbandlow-fatdietsequallygoodforweightlossBothlow-fatandlow-carbdietsworkequallywelltohelppeopleloseweightovertwoyears,newresearchhasshown.Inaddition,thelow-carbdietmayalsoboostlevelsof'good'cholesterol,althoughit'snotclearhowmuchdifferencethiswouldmaketoyouroverallhealth.Whatdoweknowalready?Thequesttofindadietthathelpspeopleloseweightgoesbackdecades.Inrecentyears,there'sbeenmuchdiscussionaboutthemeritsoflow-fatdiets,comparedwithlow-carbohydratediets.Researchshowsthelow-carbdietworkswellforshort-termweightloss,butthereisn'tenoughevidencetoshowhowwellthetwotypesofdietworkinthelong-term,andwhattheeffectsareonpeople'shealth,forexampletheircholesterollevels.Inaddition,it'sbeenrecognisedthatweightlossprogrammesarebetteriftheyincludesomesupporttohelppeoplemakechangestotheireatingandexercisehabits.Thisisoftencalledbehaviouraltherapy,becauseitworksthroughchangingpeople'sbehaviour.Groupsupportalsoseemstohelp.Anewstudyhascomparedpeoplewhofollowedaweight-lossprogrammeovertwoyears,allofwhomhadbehaviouraltherapy.Halfthepeoplefollowedalow-carbdiet(wheretheycouldeatasmuchastheyliked,butwereonlyallowedsmallamountsofcarbohydrate–just20gramsadayatthestartofthestudy),andhalffollowedalow-fatdiet(wheretheywerelimitedtobetween1,200and1,800caloriesaday,onlyone-thirdofwhichcouldbefromfat).Theresearchersmeasuredpeople'sweightaftertwoyears,andalsootherfactorssuchascholesterollevels,bloodpressure,bonestrength,andbodyfatpercentage.Whatdoesthenewstudysay?Peopleonbothdietsdidequallywellinlosingweight.Aftertwoyears,theyhadlostonaverage7kilograms(justoverastone),ortheequivalentof7percentoftheirbodyweight.Thisamountofweightlossisenoughtohavepositiveeffectsonthehealthofoverweightpeople.Therewerefewdifferencesintheotherhealthmeasures.Thegroupwho'dhadthelow-carbdiethadmuchbetterlevelsof'good'(HDL)cholesterolthanpeopleonthelow-fatdiet.Howreliablearethefindings?Thiswasawell-runstudy,lookingat307peoplewithabodymassindexof30to40(classedasobese).Quitealotofpeople(77)