 Researchers are looking for obese men to take part |
Researchers are looking for healthy, overweight men to take part in a study to work out why high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets lead to weight loss. Aberdeen's Rowett Research Institute is seeking a group of healthy, non-smoking obese men, aged 20-55, to take part.
Successful volunteers will be asked to spend time in the institute's human nutrition unit for nine weeks but will be free to come and go as they please.
Millions of people have tried these diets.
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Despite the popularity of high-protein, low-carbohydrate food programmes, such as the controversial Atkins Diet, there is a lack of scientifically proven reasons why they work.
The institute wants to rectify this and use its findings to develop new methods to help people lose weight.
 Dr Johnstone is researching a healthier diet |
Project leader Dr Alex Johnstone said: "We want to find out what it is that makes this type of diet easy to stick to, because that is obviously an important part of why people find it an effective way to lose weight. "Is it the high protein content of the diet which helps to satisfy appetites, or is it another physiological mechanism that is operating?
"We need to increase our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of high-protein, low-carbohydrate weight-loss diets so we can develop healthier, longer-term weight reduction strategies."
Concerns have been raised about the level of obesity in the UK, especially in Scotland, with an estimated 68% of males and 57% of females overweight.
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