Counting calories may not be key to weight loss

I’ve been taught that the key to controlling or losing weight was to limit the number of calories you consume.

But I just read about a new study that seems to say that when it comes to weight loss, eating the “right” foods is more important than trying to restrict calories — or portion sizes.

That finding seems to turn everything I thought I knew about weight loss on its ear.

Can it possibly be correct?

The new research found that people who concentrated on eating plenty of whole foods while cutting back on added sugar, refined grains and highly processed food lost significant amounts of weight over a year. That’s not surprising. But what is surprising is that they did so without worrying about counting calories or limiting portion sizes.

Just as interestingly, the strategy worked for people whether they adhered to diets that were mostly low in fat or mostly low in carbohydrates. Likewise, their genetics or insulinresponse to carbohydrates didn’t seem to play a part in their success.

For the study, which was led by scientists at Stanford University and appeared in the journal JAMA, researchers recruited more than 600 overweight and obese adults from the Bay Area and split them into two diet groups: “healthy” low carb and “healthy” low fat. Dietitians held classes with both groups and trained them to eat nutrient-dense, minimally processed whole foods, cooked at home as much as possible.

This meant the low-fat group was told to avoid items such as muffins, fruit juice and white rice, items that are technically low in fat but are also highly processed and rich in simple carbs and sugar. Instead, they were urged to eat foods like steel-cut oats, low-fat dairy products and brown rice. Similarly, dietitians trained the low-carb group to opt for salmon, avocados and grass-fed beef over canned tuna salad and burgers.

However, the researchers never set any numbers for the dieters to follow. And while they encouraged participants to meet federal guidelines for physical activity, most didn’t increase their exercise levels.

Still, during the course of a year, both groups lost significant amounts of weight. On average, those in the low-carb group dropped 13 pounds, while their low-fat counterparts lost almost 12 pounds each.

The study only looked at a one-year period, so we can’t know whether the participants sustained their weight loss after the research ended. But its findings certainly suggest that we may need to rethink our approach to dieting.

Yes, calories still matter. Even though they weren’t focused on it, both groups ended up consuming fewer calories by the conclusion of the study. This makes sense, because the key to losing weight is burning more energy (calories) than you take in.

Yet people succeeded at losing weight when, instead of focusing on calorie counts and precise portion sizes, they paid attention to consuming a “high quality” diet. This focus on what, rather than how much, paid big dividends.

By eating nutritious whole foods — complex carbs, healthy fats, fresh fruits and vegetables — they satisfied their hunger. And they did it without the typical drudgery that people associate with dieting.

This approach seemed to work universally, regardless of a person’s genes. Its findings also are consistent with other studies that have concluded that consuming a diet of healthy fats and complex carbohydrates can help prevent heart disease and diabetes.

So, the message here is pretty simple: Eat less sugar, fewer refined carbs and plenty of vegetables. Stay away from fast food and things that come in boxes and bags. Keep your eye on the big picture, and the pounds will take care of themselves.

Prescott, a physician and medical researcher, is president of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. Cohen is a marathoner and OMRF’s senior vice president and general counsel.