Dieting Does Not Work, UCLA Researchers Report Will you lose
weight and keep it off if you diet? No, probably not, UCLA
researchers report in the April issue of American Psychologist,
the journal of the American Psychological Association. "You can
initially lose 5 to 10 percent of your weight on any number of
diets, but then the weight comes back," said Traci Mann, UCLA
associate professor of psychology and lead author of the study.
"We found that the majority of people regained all the weight,
plus more. Sustained weight loss was found only in a small
minority of participants, while complete weight regain was found
in the majority. Diets do not lead to sustained weight loss or
health benefits for the majority of people." Mann and her co-
authors conducted the most comprehensive and rigorous analysis
of diet studies, analyzing 31 long-term studies. "What happens
to people on diets in the long run?" Mann asked. "Would they
have been better off to not go on a diet at all? We decided to
dig up and analyze every s