Live webchat with BBC What's The Right Diet For You? presenter Professor Susan Jebb OBE Tuesday 13 January from 2 to 3pm

[TraceyEMumsnet]

According to the BBC 11 million of us are on a diet in Britain today, yet the vast majority will fail. So what's the best way to lose weight successfully - and keep it off?

What's The Right Diet For You?, a 3-part Horizon special on BBC Two airing this week, will investigate how differences in our biochemistry, psychology and genes may affect our weight.

The programme follows 75 overweight volunteers from across the UK, who will be put on personalised diets to explore three possible causes of overeating: genes; gut hormones; and emotion-related eating. The experiment is led by a team of world-class scientists, one of whom will be joining us tomorrow for a webchat.

Susan Jebb OBE is Professor of Diet and Population Health at Oxford University. She is a nutrition scientist with 25 years' experience of research on preventing and treating obesity and diet-related ill health.

Can science succeed where other diets have failed? Interested in science tips and general weight loss advice? Put your questions to Professor Susan Jebb on Tuesday 13 January between 2 and 3pm, or post your questions in advance on this thread.

You can find out more about the programme here.

@cakelover75

Hello,

I was interested in the 5:2 recommended diet for the 'Constant Cravers' (me!)

I have done the 5:2 in the past and found it to be good for me as it taught me that I don't have to be eating all the time. The intermittent fasting that your diet recommended had no carbs for people but more calories (800 instead of 500). Can you explain the thinking behind this please?

Thanks, I really enjoyed the programme.

Hi Cakelover and BigChocFrenzy

Thank you, really glad you liked the programme. There are all sorts of variations on 5:2 dieting and no specific evidence which is best. Its actually hard to keep an exact count of calories too - so we have focused on the principles - strict dieting for two days - rather than precise counting.

Low carb is an easy way to cut calories and helps ketones to build up which help supports hunger.

@WEIGHTMATTERSUK

Hello. I am a therapist specialising in eating and body image issues based at WeightMatters in London(weightmatters.co.uk).

Can a purely scientific approach solve the weight/dieting problem for an individual without combining this with psychological support? Ultimately, over or under eating, for many, is a coping strategy in the short-term to solve often quite complex life problems. In part this might include emotional eating, but it can be much broader than this. People need specific, tailored support to help unravel their eating problem and also to work on their underlying feelings of worth/self-esteem.

Harriet Frew

Hi Weightmattersuk

You're absolutely right - losing weight is both about food you eat and your eating behaviour. Many people benefit from psychological support to help make changes. I think you will see much mire on this is the next two episodes.

@OhGood

Should I avoid the gym on a fast day?

Hello OhGood

We've put some more details about the diets and the recipes on the BBC website, www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02ddsd9

No reason not to go to the gym on dieting days and it can be a great distraction from food! But - make sure you really are drinking plenty to stay well hydrated, and don't forget to have something salty too as you will lose extra sodium if you are sweating with exercising. The diet booklets have more details on suitable salty foods.

@FloraFox

I'm interested in the differences between the groups' physical results (hormones and genes) and their psychological results. Did you select participants who didn't overlap between the groups? Will the team be publishing the details of the programme so that some of us geeks can pore over them?

Hi FloraFox

Good question! We screened about 200 people and for the purposes of the programme we tried to select people who best fitted each group. All the experts are active scientists and we are currently thinking about the best way to communicate this work, but it lacks some of the details which most of the scientific journals might want. But it has certainly informed some of our studies. For example we have a new study about self management of which you or others could get involved in - oxfab.org

Fiona is also working with some of the participants who had very unusual gut hormone results.

@chelseabuns2013

I'm 157cm and since being fully grown (!!!) I've always been around 70 -75 kgs. My so called ideal weight is supposed to be 53- 63 kg. I did once after 2 1/2 years my last child get down to 63kg but I was eating mouses portions and dizzy all the time. I have IBS which restricts my diet. I run once a week, I cycle daily and swim for an hour each week. Any ideas?

Hi Chelseabuns2013

Great to hear you are so active, well done. Exercise is great at helping avoid gaining weight which is a very good place to start. If you do want to lose weight start by trying to ensure you are eating a healthy diet - limit the saturated fat and sugar, and add plenty of veg. And then check your portions. Even just small changes can add up to an important effect if you keep them up.

@reup

I think there must be a huge overlap between each group. Its nonsense to suggest they are different types of people. My marks were evenly split between all 3. I did a similar quiz in an NLP book and that at least acknowledged you could have more than one trait. Sadly it didn't give you a program to follow if you were evenly split.

I've tried low carb (worked brilliantly first time then 3 years later barely shifted anything) I tried 5:2 but overate on the normal days.

Hello

You're right, there will be overlap between groups for many people. In the programme we tried to select people for each group with very specific characteristics of that group. As the series unfolds I think you will find that some of the behaviour strategies overlap between groups too.

@zinnia

I was quite surprised that the 5:2 was recommended for Constant Cravers, as I would have thought they would be the group most likely to overeat on non-fast days (my personal undoing with this approach). Do you address this in eps 2&3 of the programme? was it a problem for members of that group?

Hi Zinnia

Good point. We reckoned that any diet was going to be extra tough for the constant cravers, so by dieting just 2 days a week we hoped they could conserve their mental energy to keep at the programme over many more weeks than if there were dieting full time. You're right though that the risk is overeating the other days but interestingly previous research has not found this to be a problem and neither did our dieters. After working so hard, although they relaxed on other days they didn't 'blow it' because they didn't want to undermine their achievements.

@JaniceJoplin

Do you have any particular advice for short people ? I am 5ft and I think that my daily calorie intake should be low and have struggled to lose weight on calorie controlled diets as I don't think the recommended calorie intake is low enough for a short person, but I have not found any recommendations specifically on this. For example, I went on a 1200 calorie diet for 3 weeks to the letter, I measured everything and did not lose a lb.

I have lost weight successfully with low carb, but after having another child and little sleep have struggled to keep this up. It is hard to keep to low carb when your children are eating carbs and you are surrounded by the stuff!

Hi JaniceJoplin

Oh Janice, it is extra hard for you as your metabolic rate will be lower than your taller friends, so you will need to have an even lower calorie intake to lose weight. 1200 should be ok though, so you need to stick at it and the weight will decrease. Often people expect that they will lose quickly. But even if you eat 500 calories a day less than they need it will take at least a week to lose just one pound of fat.

The environment you are living in can definitely make it harder to control your weight. One of the things we suggest to people trying to stick to particular diets is that they try setting themselves some rules that work for them - for example not eating children's leftovers. You may need to try a range of strategies and see what works for you - we've just started a new study to look into this - if you are interested in finding out more visit, www.oxfab.org

@JaniceJoplin

Certainly, at my age, I am the same shape as my mother who also struggled with weight. I remember being horribly embarrassed that she took up jogging around the neighbourhood! I am sure genetics play a factor, but how do you understand this?

Also, BMI is not without fault, not accounting for large 'norks' or a large amount of muscles

Hello again Janice
Genetics is a really important factor in everyone's weight. You can read more about the effects of our genes in the e-book to go with the series.

You're right that for individuals BMI isn't perfect, but for most people it's a good guide as to whether your health may benefit from losing weight. Once you've started dieting, just use the change in weight as a guide to how you are doing.

@itsnotjustastick

I should also point out that i have complex medical issues and hormonal imbalances but have no idea how to balance them again

Hello

I can understand why you are frustrated that none of our groups quite fit you. Sorry. From your later post I can see that you are grappling with other medical issues. It might be helpful for you to discuss your individual situation with a dietitian. The whole thrust of this series is to emphasise the importance of an individualised approach to dieting.

However in the next 2 episodes I hope you and others will find tips which help more generally in your case, trying to establish a regular eating pattern maybe useful. You don't have to have breakfast or eat early, but sticking to a regular routine seems to help many people control their weight.

We're currently researching lots of strategies people can use to manage their weight - if you are interested in finding out more please visit www.oxfab.org

@OhGood

I'm interested in your answer to BigChocFrenzy's question about intermittant fasting. I'd also like to to know how/where I can find out more about your version of this diet.

You can find more background information on each of the diets in the e-book to accompany the series and on the BBC website. Hope that helps!

@JaneAHersey

After many years of eating disorders and yo yo weight problems I changed my attitude/eating habits about 20 years ago. I enjoy being a vegetarian as I love fruit, vegetables, seeds, nuts and dairy produce. I don't eat any processed food except for wholemeal bread. However, I bake and make my own chocolates only using quality ingredients. My problem is I have a very sweet tooth and wonder if this is harming my health?

Research tells us that diets high in sugar usually make it harder to manage your weight. This doesn't mean you need to cut out sugar entirely, but if you are trying to lose weight, try to eat sugary foods less often or in smaller quantities.

@APlaceInTheWinter

My results suggested I was a constant craver and should adopt intermittent fasting. However, I tried IF for a year and it did not work for me at all. (Unlike when I opted for a low-fat/high GI diet where I solidly lost 2lbs per week).

However, my question is:

considering there does not seem to be much research into the effects of IF on women (including any impact on fertility or/and suitability for women at different stages of their menstrual cycle and/or during the menopause) is it responsible to recommend it as a way of eating (particularly when the earlier Horizon programme on IF did not really focus much on the mediterranean diet which had formed the basis of the IF/breast cancer trials)?

Hi Placeinthewinter,

You’re right that we don’t yet have a huge amount of research about intermittent diets. But we do know that if you are overweight, losing weight improves fertility and leads to better health overall. There is no particular reason to have concerns about losing weight buy intermittent dieting, and the fact that very low calorie diets which involve 800 calories, 7 days a week are safe, should provide some reassurance. However one caveat relates to dieting while pregnant. It’s important not to gain too much weight while you are pregnant but you should only try to lose weight under the specific guidance of doctors or dietician. Anyone who is pregnant should bot adopt the intermittent diet without talking to the midwife.

Thank you everyone, and sorry for the slow reply, had some Mumsnet site issues there!

Thanks for your questions. I’ve really enjoyed talking with you all this afternoon and hope I’ve managed to answer some of your questions. Please do watch the next episodes tonight and tomorrow. I hope you will find them interesting and that you will enjoy getting to know some of the fabulous participants we worked with to make the series.

A nothing post really, just some positive feedback on the test. I haven't caught the show yet I have to say but not needing to lose weight anymore I thought I'd answer for my old life when I desperately needed to lose weight. It recommended intermittent fasting, which I'm happy about as that's what I used to lose the weight and worked fantastically for me.

I found this program unbelievably patronising! Treating fat people like some kind of freaks! And I imagine that most of those people have tried all three of those diets at least once, I know I have and none of them worked. I thought we weren't supposed to diet because diets don't work, do they? They are not telling us anything new. I am utterly confused and unhappy. Watching those poor people being winched down a light house was completely humiliating and patronising! It has really mad me so angry. I normally am so excited to see anything new on weight loss having tried it all hoping that this time might be the answer and still being over weight but watching this made my blood boil! Arrrrhhhh! I think something that needs to be tackled if "fat phobia" how fat people are treated in our society and how we see ourselves because I believe self hatred, exasperated by how fat people are seen in society, is the root of a lot of these problems.

I'm also finding it patronizing, as with most TV documentaries it is presented in a style which suggests that it is aimed at children.

It's as if they have to make it 'fun' because they believe that people wont engage with anything which sounds remotely serious or intellectual

the first part was pretty humiliating.
'lets get all these fat people together and ply them with food'

All the thin scientists stand and discuss the entertainment.
Oh look, he ate 19 plates
look at her powering her way through all that food.

It's channel 4 super size vs superskinny with a thin veneer of 'science'

I have just taken the test and the same thing happened my percentages are nearly all the same for the 3 groups- were does this leave me????

I've just done the test. I am "very overweight" but don't fit into any category (mostly I don't eat - whatever messages my brain sends out don't include any that say "you're hungry, eat something" except very occasionally). I get faint quite often because I forget to eat.

I do sit about a lot and don't exercise enough. That's due to ms - pain fatigue weakness etc.

I do need to lose 2 stone though.

?
In the first episode there is a scene with the thin scientists standing like royalty ?at the top of a grand staircase dispensing pearls of wisdom to the grateful fat subjects below.
Ostensibly aiming to help people lose weight but actually the symbolism feeds into a narrative which disempowers the overweight by depicting them as people of lesser status ?

The whole thing just made me cringe ?