The impact of food choice on diet quality during weight loss: insights from intervention trials

Diet quality may be described in terms of “healthy diet, balanced diet, nutritious food...” [1] (p.614) . During weight loss, a high quality diet delivers essential nutrients for a minimal energy cost, so food choice is critical. Healthy food choices form the basis of dietetic advice, but in reality, the balance between consumption of healthy foods and others remains a problem. Evidence supporting the relative influence of different food categories on diet quality would be informative for practice

Sugar in the diet: is there a sweet spot?

A round-up of insights p resented at ILSI SEAR Australasia\u27s symposium, Sugar in the d ie t: is the re a swe e t sp ot? held in Sydney on 30 October 2015

Nutrition under the microscope

International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) Australasia president Kim Tikellis hosted the ILSI SEAR (Southeast Asia Region) Australasia seminar, Mind the Gap - Nutrition Under the Microscope, on Australian food consumption data in Sydney last month. With more than 70 attendees, the event featured presentations from across the different areas of the food industry and provided insight into the latest developments in nutrition research and trends

Changes in diet quality during a 12 month weight loss randomised controlled trial

Background: Reductions in energy intake are seen in weight loss trials, but whether this occurs with improvements to diet quality (DQ) is less established. The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in diet quality in a sample of volunteers in a weight loss trial. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of dietary data from a lifestyle intervention trial (the HealthTrack study) which advised on dietary guidelines. The trial ran for 12 months with three treatment groups: control (general advice C), intervention (individualised advice, I), and intervention plus a supplement of walnuts (IW). Both the published a priori diet quality score (APDQS, maximum score 164) and a study specific Diet Quality Tracker (DQT, maximum score 44) indicated compliance to dietary advice. DQ scores calculated at 0, 3months and 12months were evaluated using two-way RMANOVA, one-way ANOVA and one-way RMANOVA. Changes in intakes of food groups and nutrients were analysed using Kruskal-Wallis and Friedman\u27s tests. Results: There were no differences between groups at baseline, but at 3months IW recorded higher DQ scores (APDQS:96 ± 10; DQT:22 ± 5, P \u3c 1 x 10−3 for both) compared to I (APDQS:91 ± 13, P \u3c 1 x 10−3 ; DQT:21 ± 4, P 5 x 10−2 ), and a higher consumption of nuts at 3 months (P \u3c 1 x 10−3 ), and 12months (P \u3c 1 x 10−2 ). All groups reported decreased intakes of discretionary foods/beverages assessed by the DQT (P \u3c 1 x 10−3 for IW and I; P \u3c 1 x 10−2 for C). The APDQS showed this as reduced intakes of grain based desserts (P \u3c 1 x 10−3 at 3 and 12months), and salty snacks at 12months (P \u3c 1 x 10−3 for IW and I; P \u3c 5 x 10−2 for C). Intakes of monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids were lowest, and polyunsaturated fatty acids highest for IW (P \u3c 1 x 10−3 ), resulting in a higher dietary polyunsaturated:saturated fat ratio (P \u3c 1 x 10−3 ). Conclusions: Lifestyle intervention addressing dietary guidelines can lead to significant reductions in consumption of discretionary foods and saturated fat, but individualised advice may have a greater impact on improving overall DQ regardless of DQI used. Providing a healthy food supplement may help assure higher DQ and where the food is walnuts, produce commensurate differences in dietary fatty acid profiles

Impact of food supplementation on weight loss in randomised-controlled dietary intervention trials: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Dietary trials provide evidence for practice and policy guidelines, but poor adherence may confound results. Food supplementation may improve adherence to dietary interventions, but the impact of supplementation on study outcomes is not known. The aim of this review was to examine the impact of food supplementation on weight loss in dietary intervention trials. The databases Scopus, PubMed and the Cochrane Library were searched for dietary intervention trials published between January 2004 and March 2015 using the following keyword combinations: \u27trial\u27 OR \u27intervention\u27, \u27food\u27 OR \u27diet\u27, \u27weight loss\u27 and \u27adherence\u27 OR \u27adherence\u27. Studies were included if food was provided to at least one study group and both \u27weight change\u27 and \u27adherence\u27 were reported. Random effects meta-analyses were conducted to assess weighted mean differences (WMD) in body weight (change or final mean values). The included studies formed two groups: trials involving an intervention group supplemented with a food and a control without food supplementation (food v. no food), and trials in which food was provided to all subjects (food v. food) (PROSPERO registration: CRD42015017563). In total, sixteen studies were included. Significant weight reduction was reported in the food v. no food studies (WMD −0·74 kg; 95 % CI −1·40, −0·08; P=0·03, I2=63 %). A non-significant increase in weight was found among the food v. food studies (WMD 0·84 kg; 95 % CI −0·60, 2·27; P=0·25, I2=0 %). Food supplementation appeared to result in greater weight loss in dietary trials. Energy restrictions and intensity of interventions were other significant factors influencing weight loss

Additional file 1: of Changes in diet quality during a 12 month weight loss randomised controlled trial

Table S1. List of food groups classified as 'positive', 'negative' and 'neutral' in the a priori diet quality score (APDQS). This file contains the list of food groups classified as ‘positive, ‘negative’ and ‘neutral, in the a priori diet quality score (APDQS). Table S2. Median daily consumption of food groups from the Diet Quality Tracker (DQT). This file contains data relating to the median daily consumption of food groups used in the Diet Quality Tracker (DQT). Table S3. Median daily consumption of food groups from the a priori diet quality score (APDQS). This file contains data relating to the median daily consumption of food groups used in the a priori diet quality score (APDQS). Table S4. Median daily nutrient intakes as reported in diet histories. This file contains data relating to the median daily nutrient intakes from the HealthTrack study diet history data used for analysis of this study. (XLSX 50 kb