A new study came out yesterday, suggesting that weight loss is best on a Mediterranean Diet. The study compared a Low Fat Diet, a Mediterranean Diet, and the Atkins Diet. Low fat diets don’t work for most patients. Patients feel tired, listless, depressed, and cheat like crazy on sweets, starches and fat. The Atkins Diet used in the study was 10% carbohydrate, and doing the math, it’s a little of the high side of carbohydrate intake for a metabolically efficient low carb diet. My rule of thumb for a low carb diet that works, is 10-20 grams of carbohdyrate per feeding (2 feedings a day), and under 1500 calories. If 10% of calories are from carbohydrate, that’s 150 calories of carbohydrate per day, or (divide by 4, there are 4 calories per gram of carbohydrate) 37.5 grams of carbohydrate per day, or 18.75 grams of carbohydrate per feeding, which is on the high end of acceptable. My pet theory has always been that the magic of a Mediterranean Diet is mostly the olive oil, and if you want the biggest bang for the weight loss buck, add olive oil to a 10-20 grams per feeding low carb diet. That’s the study I want to see.