The great majority of people taking part in a study lost weight by following personalised nutritional insights, rather than going on a calorie counting or restrictive diet, reveal findings from a new study.
Overweight and obesity are growing public health problems. Globally, almost half of all adults (43%) were overweight and 1 in 8 were living with obesity in 2022. Adult obesity has more than doubled in the last 35 years, and obesity in adolescents has quadrupled.
Although new weight loss drugs may be slowing this trend, losing weight without medication is preferable where possible.
About the study
Scientists at ZOE, the gut health science company, and leading experts at King's College London, analysed a subset of data from the PREDICT studies. They selected individuals who were overweight or had obesity (BMI 25 or greater) at the start of the study.
In total, this was 5,048 people (80% female) with a mean age of 59.
Each participant self-reported their weight and provided detailed information about their diet before starting ZOE, a nutrition app that offers personalised food advice. They continued tracking their diet for around 3 months as they began eating in line with their personalised ZOE diet scores, which reflects overall diet quality and how well their food choices support overall and gut health.
Key findings
83% of people lost weight in just 12–15 weeks. On average, they lost 3 kg (6.6 lbs) each.
34%, around 1 in 3, lost 5% body weight or more.
Scientists consider 5% weight loss to be clinically meaningful, which previous research shows is associated with improved metabolic health.
People in this group were more likely to be male, and be slightly older and heavier at the start of the study.
Among the group of 2,200 participants who achieved a high ZOE diet score of 70 (out of 100) or more which shows good adherence to the dietary advice), the average weight loss was 3.6 kg, and 42% lost 5% or more of their body weight.
"You don't need to count a single calorie to lose weight. When you eat in a way that suits your body, the changes happen without the daily maths - and that's a far easier thing to keep doing," explains Dr Federica Amati, Head Nutritionist at ZOE, Nutrition Topic Lead at Imperial College London, and best selling author of The Appetite Reset: How to Eat, Drink and Thrive Before, During and After GLP-1s.
"Taken together, these results suggest that if you are overweight and follow personalised nutritional insights offered by ZOE, you have a good chance of losing weight. More importantly, those who followed their personalised advice most closely also saw the greatest weight loss, " says Sarah Berry, Chief Scientist at ZOE and Professor of Nutritional Sciences at King's College London.
