The Best Science-Based Diet for Fat Loss

Best Science-Based Diet for Fat Loss

When it comes to fat loss (or “cutting”), there’s no doubt that your diet is the most important factor you have to get right.

Even if your training is on point and consistent, you’re simply not going to see the results you want without a proper nutrition strategy.

Yet this is where most people fail. And I honestly don’t blame them.

We’re constantly overwhelmed with new “fat-burning diets” that are supposedly the new best diet to lose weight.

So it becomes extremely difficult to know which approach to take.

 

About the Best Science-Based Diet for Fat Loss

But the real truth is, every single diet (Check out this muscle-building diet article) or dieting method out there works the same way. They ALL achieve fat loss by causing you to eat at a caloric deficit.

Meaning that you’re eating fewer calories than you’re burning every day.

Research has time and time again proven this idea.

Whether it’s keto, intermittent fasting, paleo, and so on, although these diets may each have certain psychological and physiological benefits – none of these diets or methods have any “special fat loss effect.”

They instead work by making it easier for you to eat fewer calories.

Thus, the best diet to lose fat is the one that you enjoy the most and will be consistent with.

But.. there are a few things you have to get right within that diet if you want to see the best fat-loss results.

There are a few factors you need to get right to optimize to lose fat, and are mainly how much of the following you consume daily:

 

Total Calories Protein Carbohydrates Fat

So how exactly do you optimize each of these factors for fat loss?

 

1. Calories

If you want to maximize fat loss while minimizing muscle loss, then you have to pay close attention to how many calories you’re intaking. And in this case, more is NOT better.

Research indicates that a moderate calorie deficit that enables you to lose around 0.7% of your body weight per week (~1lb of weight loss per week for most people) is ideal.

A more aggressive calorie deficit was shown to hinder fat loss as opposed to accelerating it.

Although you may lose more weight with a larger deficit, we want to maximize FAT loss rather than WEIGHT loss.

Focusing on the latter will just lead to a “skinny-fat” physique with little muscle definition.

And if you’re unaware of what your calorie intake should be, a good starting point and something recommended from a 2014 paper by Eric Helms and colleagues, is to simply “multiply your bodyweight (in lbs) by 13.”

So for a 170lb individual, your daily calorie intake would be somewhere around 2210 calories per day (170 x 13 = 2210 calories).

Although this won’t be spot-on for everyone, you can start with that and then increase or decrease your calories based on how your weight loss progresses throughout the next little while.

 

2. Protein

As for protein, it’s the most important macronutrient you want to keep track of.

Research has repeatedly shown that it plays a major role in maintaining muscle while you’re in a calorie deficit.

And although how much protein you should intake will always be a highly debated topic, a recent 2018 meta-analysis from the Journal of Sports Medicine found that taking at least 0.73g/lb of body weight is enough to maximize muscle growth and maintenance.

However, I find that intaking a little more than this (~1g/lb) is beneficial when restricting calories since we know that protein is the most satiating macronutrient, so it can better help keep you full throughout the day and it just acts as a buffer to help minimize any possible muscle loss.

 

3. Carbs + Fat

Now as for carbs and fats, despite the ongoing debate between low fat versus low carb diets, a recent 2018 year-long randomized clinical trial with over 600 subjects, found that:

The best science-based diet is clear on this.

When protein intake is equated, both low-fat and low-carb diets are equally as effective for fat loss.

So in reality, these two factors are of lesser importance than your total calories and your daily protein intake and can therefore be adjusted based on what kinds of foods you enjoy.

But generally, the literature recommends a fat intake of around 0.25-0.5g/lb of body weight from healthy fats and then the rest of your calories, minus your protein, of course, coming from carbs.

Research does also suggest that females might do better sticking to the higher end of that fat range, so that’s something to keep in mind as well.

Total Calories: 170lbs x 13 = ~2, 210 calories per day

Protein: ~170g ( 170g x 4 = 680 calories since protein has 4 calories per gram)

Fats (using the middle of the recommended range): 170lb x 0.4 g/lb = 68g (68g x 9 = 612 calories since fat has 9 calories per gram)

Carb (whatever is left over): 2, 210 calories – 680  calories protein – 612 calories fat = 918 calories of carbs (918 calories / 4  = 230g carbs since carbs have 4 calories per gram).

So, the individual above would need roughly 170g protein, 68g fat, and 230g carbs which totals around 2, 200 calories per day. Voila!

Now that you’ve learned the basics regarding setting up and optimizing your diet for fat loss, let’s take a look at what a typical day of eating at a calorie deficit looks like for me.

 

Consider quality, not just calories

As part of the best science-based diet, we need to consider calories.

“A calorie is a calorie” is an oft-repeated dietary slogan, and not overeating is indeed an important health measure.

Rather than focusing on calories alone, however, emerging research shows that quality is also key in determining what we should eat and what we should avoid to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

Rather than choosing foods based only on caloric value, think instead about choosing high-quality, healthy foods, and minimizing low-quality foods.

High-quality foods include unrefined, minimally processed foods such as vegetables and fruits, whole grains, healthy fats and healthy sources of protein – the foods recommended in the Healthy Eating Plate.

Lower-quality foods include highly processed snack foods, sugar-sweetened beverages, refined (white) grains, refined sugar, fried foods, foods high in saturated and trans fats, and high-glycemic foods such as potatoes.

There isn’t one “perfect” diet for everyone, owing to individual differences in genes and lifestyle.

 

Quality counts

One study analyzed whether certain foods were more or less likely to promote weight gain.

This type of research examining specific foods and drinks allows us to understand whether “a calorie is a calorie, ” or if eating more higher-quality foods and fewer lower-quality foods can lead to weight loss and maintenance.

Researchers in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health show us that quality is very important in determining what we should eat to achieve and maintain a healthy weight and that the notion of “a calorie is a calorie” does not tell the whole story.

So now you can apply these Best Science-Based Diets for Fat Loss.

 

 

Best Science-Based Diet for Fat Loss.Video insights

 

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