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Scientists know how to lose weight without dieting
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Scientists from the University of East Anglia recommend that those who want to lose weight simply reduce their fat intake, rather than testing out various fad diets and nutrition systems.
Experts say that limiting the consumption of foods containing fats will be much more effective than all sorts of diets, of which there are a huge number today. Eliminate cakes, cookies, chips, meat, cheese and butter from your diet, eat more low-fat yogurts and milk. The less fatty food you eat, the better the results will be.
In addition to a slim figure, which will definitely become one if a person has enough strength not to look at products containing a large amount of fat, giving up such products will help improve overall health indicators, and also reduce the level of bad cholesterol in the blood.
The results of the scientists' research prove for the first time the fact that it is possible to lose excess weight without much effort and without following strict diets, which can sometimes be called starvation.
The experts came to this conclusion by combining 33 clinical trials, in which 74 thousand volunteers participated. The data obtained were published in the scientific journal "British Medical Journal".
Lead author of the study Dr Lee Hooper said people who followed the diet consistently maintained lower weight than those who did not.
"After giving up fatty foods, body weight steadily decreased. And this was demonstrated by almost every individual case of giving up fatty foods. Those who adhered to stricter nutritional principles were able to show even better results," the researchers comment.
In addition, the authors of the work say that giving up unhealthy food does not change a person's life and habits as much as diets. Scientists observed people who ate healthy food and limited fat consumption, but who, at the same time, did not strive to lose weight. They did not limit the amount of food and, nevertheless, their weight gradually decreased.
The review included 33 randomized trials that lasted from six months to eight years. A comparative analysis was conducted between groups that consumed normal amounts of fat (25-50% of daily calories) and those who began to limit their consumption of fatty foods.
The first results appeared after the weather: the study participants who “de-fatted” their menu became at least 1.6 kilograms lighter, and their volumes changed by 0.5 centimeters.
"Such a transformation of the diet, naturally, will not give quick results, which many fashionable diets promise. However, sharp weight fluctuations often lead to negative consequences and health problems. Usually, in the case of using diets, the weight not only returns, but also increases. And giving up fatty foods, despite the gradual decrease in body weight, gives more stable results and improves human health indicators," the researchers comment on the results.