Genes no help in diet

TAILORING your diet to your genes will not help in the battle of the bulge.

A new research project has found it’s the amount of kilojoules – not the carbohydrate or fat ratio of the diet – that determines how many kilograms are shed.

Experts say the findings put a stop to the idea that genes can predict fat or carbohydrate sensitivity and that “genetically-modified diets will be the way of the future”.

Researchers from Stanford University put more than 600 overweight Americans on lowfat or low-carb diets.

After 12 months, people on the low-fat diet shed an average 5.3kg while those who avoided carbohydrate shed about 6kg.

The research, published in the JAMA journal, concluded the similar amount of weight lost in both groups indicates neither a person’s genes or how they process insulin makes any type of diet more effective.