If you struggle to lose weight, the diet you’re on may be wrong for your genetic type - Amanda Ursell from The London Times says. Ursell was asked the following question by a reader of The London Times: ”My friend and I are following a low-fat diet. The weight is falling off her but I can’t seem to lose any. Why?”

And this is the expert’s answer.

The answer may lie in your genes. New research at Stanford University in the US suggests that how well you do on a particular diet may be down to your genetic make-up. By taking a mouth swab and looking at three “obesity” genes, scientists can tell if someone is more suited to a “low-fat” (Rosemary Conley-style) or “low-carbohydrate” (Atkins-type) plan. Studying 138 overweight women who had dieted using either a low-carbohydrate or low-fat plan, they found that those whose diets suited their genetic type lost 2-3 times more weight in a year than those whose genes and diet didn’t “match”.

If larger studies echo these results, the company behind the test, Interleukin Genetics, will charge people $149 to check their genetic type. The test is not yet available here — but diets tend to be either low-carb or low-fat, so if you have tried one and it didn’t work, try the other. Jennifer Aniston and Demi Moore, for instance, are said to be fans of low-fat, while Renée Zellweger prefers the carb-cutting route. The women tested by the Stanford researchers were split 60-40 between low-carb and low-fat types. Only five women were in a “balanced” group for whom the diet styles worked equally well.

Source: The London Times

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