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by gamblor956 2779 days ago
The purpose of the study was to test metabolism, not weight loss. The tested variable was the amount of calories/day attributable to carbohydrates.

A key part of the study was that they fed the participants more or less each day to maintain weight.

In other words, there should not have been any weight change at all, as weight change would have confounded the results since weight loss is known to effect metabolism.

1 comments

If that is the case, then it makes sense that they did not lose weight.

However, from a layman perspective, it seems like it would be nice to be able to collaborate the measure of increased metabolism not only through one method (doubly labeled water) but also through weight loss over time.

It's like having an inaccurate measuring stick and basing the results of a study solely on measurements made by that one stick, while at the same time making an effort to make sure that no other means of measuring exist.