March 28, 2019—When it comes to dropping pounds, diets' benefits may be overhyped, a new study suggests. It found that overweight people who tracked what they ate daily with a smartphone app lost a significant amount of weight without following any particular diet at all.
What's more, they trimmed down with a free app. Any free or low-cost tracker could have likely worked just as well, the researchers said. The findings suggest that recording what you eat may be an inexpensive, effective way to trim down, they added.
Many Americans now use weight-loss apps. But until now, little was known about how really helpful they might be.
Faithful tracking is key
The study included 105 people. They used the diet tracker MyFitnessPal and were given broad advice on healthy eating, rather than being told to stick to a specific diet.
Researchers divided them into three groups. The first group tracked what they ate daily. The second tracked their weight for a month, then also recorded their daily diet. The third tracked both their daily diet and weight from the study's start.
After three months, people in all three groups had dropped a clinically significant amount of weight—about 5 to 6 pounds on average. But those who were the most diligent at tracking lost the most weight.
There's now strong evidence that consistent tracking—particularly of diet, but also weight—is crucial for getting slimmer, the researchers said. If you're carrying extra pounds, they advise looking for an app that makes it easy to record your daily diet and weight.
The study appears in the journal JMIR mHealth and uHealth.