If you trim out only 300 calories a day — the equivalent of six Oreo cookies — that could be all it takes to cut diabetes and heart disease risk, new research suggests.
In the study, just over 200 adults younger than 50 with a healthy weight or just a few extra pounds were told to reduce their calorie intake by 25% for two years. Their ability to achieve that goal varied, and the average calorie reduction in the group was about 12% (300 calories a day).
Even so, they managed a 10% decline in weight, 71% of which was fat.
What did that modest weight loss bring? Significant improvements were seen in already good levels of cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar and other markers of risk for
