Health: Diet Bake-Off

There aren’t many head-to-head studies of brand-name diet regimens, and now we know why. When scientists assigned 160 overweight or obese adults to one of four diets–Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers or Zone–the results were hardly dramatic. After a year of dieting, the average weight loss for women was about 5 lbs. and for men about 6.5 lbs.–and it didn’t matter much which diet they were on. Perhaps the most significant finding was how many test subjects dropped out: half of the Atkins and Ornish groups, a third of Weight Watchers and Zone. The best bet, say the researchers, is to pick a diet with food choices you can live with. –By David Bjerklie