Can you lose more weight on a diet that’s “personalized” for your genes?

Researchers categorized 122 people with excess weight as more responsive to lower-fat or lower-carb diets based on their genes. They then randomly assigned half the fat-responders to a higher-fat diet and half to a higher-carb diet, and half the carb-responders to a higher-fat diet and half to a higher-carb diet.

After 12 weeks, there was no difference in weight loss (about 10 pounds), food cravings, or diet satisfaction between those assigned to the diet that matched their genes and those assigned to the diet that didn’t.

(Two authors were employees of Weight Watchers, which funded the study.)

What to do

Don’t assume that you’ll lose more weight on a “personalized” diet.