Weight outcome after 2 years of a diet that excludes six processed foods: exploratory study of the “1,2,3 diet” in a moderately obese population

Rodi Courie,1 Martin Gaillard,2,3 Panagiotis Lainas,2,3 Boris Hansel,1 Sylvie Naveau,1,3 Ibrahim Dagher,2,3 Hadrien Tranchart2,3 1Department of Hepato-Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Antoine Béclère Hospital (AP-HP), Clamart, France; 2Department of Digestive Minimally Invasive Surgery, Antoine Béclère Hospital (AP-HP), Clamart, France; 3Paris-Saclay University, INSERM U1193, Orsay, France Background: The Paleolithic diet, a diet devoid of food-processing procedure, seems to produce a greater decrease in weight compared to healthy reference diets but its limited food choices make it difficult to implement in our modern times where refined food is dominant.Objective: To evaluate the effects of a 2-year diet that excludes only six refined foodstuffs implicated in obesity. Professional contact was kept minimal to approximate the approach used by most dieters.Design: Single-arm, open-label, exploratory study.Setting: One academic medical center, outpatient setting.Patients: One hundred and five subjects with a mean age of 50 (SD, 14 years) and mean body mass index of 30.5 kg/m² (SD, 4 kg/m²). Thirty-nine percent had type 2 diabetes.Intervention: An ad libitum diet that excludes six refined foodstuffs (margarine, vegetable oils, butter, cream, processed meat, and sugary drinks) called the “1,2,3 diet”.Outcomes: Weight at 2 years was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes included number of patients who lost more than 5% of initial body weight, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level, and changes in dietary behavior.Results: Average weight loss was 4.8 kg (p