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Thursday, April 15, 2010 (09:41:43) |
| Tags : Diet, Weight, Research |
Dieting without work out won't help lose weight |
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| London, April 15: People who follow a low-calories diet in the hope of losing weight shouldn't bother unless they work out as well, a new study has found.
"This research shows that simply dieting will not likely cause substantial weight loss. Instead, diet and work out must be combined to achieve this goal," said a researcher.
To conduct the research, an expert studied 18 female rhesus macaque monkeys. The monkeys were placed on a high-fat diet for several years. They were then returned to a low-fat diet with a 30 percent reduction in calories. For a one-month period, the monkeys' weight and activity levels were closely tracked. Activity was tracked through the use of an activity monitor worn on a collar, reports the media.
Surprisingly, there was no significant weight loss at the end of the month. There was a significant change in the activity levels for these monkeys.
Naturally occurring levels of physical activity for the animals began to diminish soon after the reduced-calorie diet began. When caloric intake was further reduced in a second month, physical activity in the monkeys diminished even further.
A comparison group of three monkeys was fed a normal monkey diet and was trained to work out for one hour daily on a treadmill. This comparison group did lose weight.
"This study demonstrates that there is a natural body mechanism which conserves energy in response to a reduction in calories. Food is not always plentiful for humans and animals and the body seems to have developed a strategy for responding to these fluctuations," Cameron said. (IANS) |
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