Semifinal Thoughts on the CALERIE Study
In case you’re thinking, “Wow, I can’t believe he’s still talking about this one study”—I know! I don’t typically spend this much time reviewing a single study, but this one answered a lot of questions about the benefits of cutting calories. Even with 60 publications so far from the Comprehensive Assessment of Long-term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy (CALERIE) clinical trial, there’s still a lot more info to come and two big questions still to be answered.
More Results from the CALERIE Study
In this first controlled study of calorie restriction in healthy humans, researchers found that:
- Fasting insulin decreased
- Triglycerides, total cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol decreased
- HDL-cholesterol increased
- Glucose tolerance increased
- Working memory improved
- Inflammation markers such as C-reactive protein and TNF-alpha decreased
As more data is examined and new analytics are discovered to test more variables, I’ll be bringing you more results that may help you be healthier.
What We Don’t Know
The most important thing we don’t know yet is whether calorie restriction is an effective way to lose weight and whether all those great benefits would still apply. By definition all diets restrict calories, but this is not a diet; this is changing your lifestyle to maintain a calorie restriction of 11% to 15% for a long time, preferably for life. If you want to maintain the benefits, such as better insulin control and reducing the risk of heart disease, you never stop.
The other question is whether one type of eating style would be more effective than others to sustain the diet and its effects. Mediterranean? Keto? Vegan? We still don’t know for sure, but my opinion is that it doesn’t matter—it should be one that you can live with long term using the healthiest foods you can afford.
The Bottom Line
The CALERIE Study has demonstrated specific health benefits for calorie restriction of 11% to 15% for normal weight people. I think it will apply to overweight people as well. In the next few weeks, I’m going to drop my caloric intake by 12.5%, and I’ll keep you posted on how you can do it as well.
What are you prepared to do today?
Dr. Chet
Reference: Nutrition Reviews 2020: Vol. 79(1):98–113.
