Fresh research has found that people following a diet higher in protein and fibre lose more weight than following a diet based on counting calories or kilojoules.

In fact, they lost more weight than what most people achieve with the ‘miracle drug’ Ozempic, without the side-effects.

A study published in July found that people taking semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy) lost about 8 per cent of their body weight in the first year.

But they also lost muscle and many suffered intestinal complaints.

At the one-year mark of the new study, successful dieters (41 per cent of participants) had lost an average 12.9 per cent of their body weight.

At the six-month mark, participants who ate more protein and fibre lost an average 7.1 kilograms, with minimal muscle loss, and no tummy issues.

Specifically, participants were encouraged to increase their protein intake to roughly 80 grams per day, and their fibre intake to about 20 grams.

An educational exercise

It took a lot more work than self-injecting a drug once a week to get these results.

But the two-year study, from the University of Illinois, was largely an educational exercise – with a marketing friendly name, the ‘Individualized Diet Improvement Program’ (iDip).

The program uses data visualisation tools and intensive dietary education sessions to increase dieters’ knowledge of key nutrients.

The researchers say this enabled the participants “to create a personalised, safe and effective weight-loss plan”.

By learning about food composition – protein doesn’t just come from animals – participants were able to experiment and remain flexible about their diet.

This flexibility allowed participants to have more control over their diet – and this enabled them to stick to it over the longer term.

Manabu T. Nakamura, professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and lead researcher, said:

“Flexibility and personalisation are key in creating programs that optimise dieters’ success at losing weight and keeping it off.

“The knowledge and skills they develop while losing weight serve as the foundation for sustainable maintenance.”

Why protein and fibre are key

Eating more protein and fibre makes you feel fuller for longer.

Protein protects against muscle loss: This helps maintain or improve a person’s metabolism, which leads to weight loss.

Fibre protects your gut health and because it passes through the body without being digested, it doesn’t add to your calorie intake.

Your gut health is one of those variables, along with environmental and social factors, that aren’t factored into most dietary plans.

In the study, those who adopted a higher protein and fibre strategy early on were more likely to enjoy early success. This early success served as a morale boost to keep going,

If you simply re-jigged your diet to be eating more protein and fibre, and less carbs and fats – without changing portion size – you’re likely to lose some weight.

However, there was another factor. Participants were encouraged to drop their daily calorie intake to under 1500 calories.

Roughly speaking, most adults require about 2000 calories a day.

But our caloric requirements differ depending on how physically active we are. According to Healthline:

“It’s estimated that adult women require 1,600-2,400 calories per day, compared with 2,000-3,000 calories for adult men.” 

Cutting back to 1500 isn’t easy.

But again, that higher intake of protein and fibre increases feelings of fullness, and thus off-sets some of this difficulty.

Mental health a factor

This was a small study. A total of 22 people completed the program, including nine men and 13 women, aged between 30-64.

They had all “made two or more prior attempts to lose weight”.

There were a variety of co-morbidities:

• 54 per cent had high cholesterol
• 50 per cent had skeletal problems
• 36 per cent had hypertension and/or sleep apnea.

Some participants reported diagnoses of diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and cancer.

Seven dieters reported depression. They were found to significantly lose less weight – about 2.4 per cent of their starting weight.

Depression was the only co-morbidity to compromise the weight loss results. Previous research has found that regular exercise is a more effective treatment for depression than drugs or therapy.

It may be that people with depression who exercise might be more successful with this weight loss program.

This possibility didn’t appear to be considered within the confines of the program.