Participants Sought for Stanford Weight-Loss Study to Understand Why One Diet Doesn’t Fit All

BY RANJINI RAGHUNATH / STANFORD NEWS SERVICE

Researchers at the Stanford Prevention Research Center are seeking participants for a 12-month weight-loss study aimed at understanding why people on the same low-fat or low-carbohydrate diet have different rates of success.

The study, titled One Diet Does Not Fit All, will also try to identify the traits that account for these differences — factors such as genetic influences, insulin resistance, gut microbes, sleeping and eating habits, and depression or other psychological issues.

Participants will be assigned randomly to either a very low-fat or very low-carbohydrate diet for 12 months. They will be required to attend weekly classes at Stanford for the first three months, once every other week for the following three months, and once a month for the remainder of the study. 

Participants must also be willing to have fasting blood samples drawn four times during the 12-month period and participate in online and written surveys. They will receive all test results at the end of the study.

Men and women (only pre-menopausal) who are overweight or obese, in general good health and between the ages of 18 and 50 are eligible to participate in the study, which is part of a five-year project funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Nutrition Science Initiative. 

Last year, 200 participants were enrolled in the study. This year, the research team hopes to recruit at least 135 participants for their spring cohort.

Learn more at: http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2014/march/diet.html#sthash.1h09kLuw.dpuf