When it comes to weight loss, people may be better off following the commercial diet program Weight Watchers, rather than relying on guidance from their primary care doctors. According to a new study published in the journal Lancet, overweight and obese adults who used Weight Watchers for a year lost twice as much weight as people who got weight-loss advice from their doctors. For the study, researchers randomly assigned 772 overweight or obese participants from Germany, Australia and Britain to either a Weight Watchers program or a plan guided by a primary care doctor. The Weight Watchers group got a free 12-month membership and access to weekly meetings; the primary care group was asked to attend monthly weight-loss sessions with their doctor at the office. MORE: Proper Nutrition May Prevent 33,000 Deaths Overall, about 87% of participants were women and the average age of the entire study group was 47. At the start of the study, the volunteers’ average body mass index (BMI) was 31; overweight is defined as having a BMI of 25 or higher, and obesity is defined as having a BMI 30 or higher. By the end of the year, the Weight Watchers group had lost an average 11.1 lbs., more than twice the 5 lbs. lost on average by those in the primary care group. The Weight Watchers members also managed to lower their fasting insulin and their cholesterol levels more than the doctor-guided dieters. Of course, there are a few caveats: for one thing, the people who followed the Weight Watchers program didn’t have to pay for their memberships. The diet plan can cost members nearly $500 a year in the U.S., which puts it out of reach for many. Also, the study was funded by Weight Watchers, but that’s not so unusual — all major commercial diet plans fund their own studies. And, finally, about 40% of the study’s participants dropped out before the year was up. Still, the results were pretty impressive: people in the Weight Watchers group were three times more likely … Continue reading Study Is In: Weight Watchers Works