Natural Medicine Update

STUDY: The diet type is much less important than the actual restriction in calories.

JOURNAL: J Clin Endo Metab 2003;88:812-819.

AUTHORS: Dr. L. J. Moran

ABSTRACT: Overweight women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) experience an improvement in their symptoms after a few months of dieting, regardless of whether they opt for a low or high protein diet.

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COMMENTARY: The diet type is much less important than the actual restriction in calories.

A group of Australian researchers led by Dr. L. J. Moran at the University of Adelaide assigned 45 overweight women with PCOS to either high- or low-protein diets.

The high-protein diet consisted of 30% protein and 40% carbohydrates, while the low-protein diet included 15% protein and 55% carbohydrates. The women were expected to eat a calorie-restricted diet--approximately 1400 calories per day--for 12 weeks, then to spend another 4 weeks consuming enough calories to maintain, but not change, their body weight.

Study participants were also asked to exercise at least 3 times a week.

Only 14 women assigned to each diet were able to complete the entire program. The authors discovered that both diets resulted in roughly the same amount of weight loss, and the same decrease in body fat and insulin levels.

Almost half of all participants improved the regularity of their periods, the authors note, and 3 out of 20 women trying to conceive did so during the study period. None of the women reported any side effects from the diets.