Low-carbohydrate, high-protein, and high-fat diets are often advocated for weight reduction and weight loss maintenance.
Fad diets often have confounding and conflicting recommendations and this makes it difficult to arrive at a healthy approach to weight loss. The present study compares the effect of a Zone diet and a balanced diet on weight loss, body composition, and some relevant biochemical parameters in the weight loss program of young Indian women. The study was conducted in fitness centers in Bangalore and involved the participation of 150 obese women aged 25-35 years who were selected out of 240 subjects screened based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The 150 subjects were assigned to control (n=50, no dietary intervention), Zone diet (n=50, dietary intervention with individualized Zone diet plan and booklet), and balanced diet (n=50, dietary intervention with individualized balanced diet plan and booklet) groups. All the subjects were asked to attend Zumba fitness classes thrice a week and aerobics classes twice a week for a duration of 12 weeks. Significant weight loss was observed in all three groups post-12 weeks. Apart from the weight loss, Zone diet groups had additional advantages such as significant reduction pertaining to body fat percentage, visceral fat, and metabolic age of the subjects. The balanced diet with high fiber content had an edge over the Zone diet since there was an additional improvement in biochemical parameters namely, fasting blood sugar, lipid profile, serum creatinine, and uric acid post-assessment. The present study showed both diets to be equally effective in their ability in reducing body weight and improving body composition. However, as far as the effect on biochemical parameters, the complexity of planning and adherence to the diets is considered it was found that a balanced diet will be a better option as a dietary intervention. Hence it can be concluded that dietary intervention based on a balanced diet along with a regular exercise schedule instead of fad diets can be promoted for healthy weight loss also depth studies on the long-term effects of fad diets are limited.
