If your dieting program has you longing for a little fat with your meal, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, have come to your rescue.

In a recent issue of the International Journal of Obesity, they compared weight-loss success and overall satisfaction among overweight people on a moderate-fat diet to people on a low-fat diet. Thirty-one people in the study consumed a moderate-fat diet, similar to the Mediterranean diet that includes consumption of healthy fats found in peanut butter, olive oil, and nuts. Thirty people consumed a traditional low-fat diet of less than 30% of calories from fat. After 6 months, both groups lost about the same amount of weight, but a year later, those who ate the moderate-fat diet had lost an average of 9 pounds while those on the low-fat diet weighed about 6 pounds more than they did at the start of the study. After 18 months, 54% of the people originally recruited to the moderate-fat diet group were still actively participating in the study, but only 20% of those in the low-fat diet group were still participating.

In addition, the people on the moderate-fat diet said it was tastier than other low-fat diets they had tried.

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