The only two diets that really work. According to science.

April 9, 2015

Image via iStock.

If you’re someone who’s jumped on the bandwagon of fad diets over the years (hello Atkins diet, Mediterranean diet and paleo diet), this news is sure to surprise you, and maybe make you wish you never bothered wasting your time dieting in the first place.

New research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine has found the diets that are proven to give you results.

While the Dukan diet might be the most searched for diet in the world, it didn’t score up as the most effective. In fact, of the 11 major weight-loss programs that had been rigorously tested, just two were proven to help you lose weight and actually keep it off for a year.

The winning duo? Old faithfuls Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig. (Post continues after gallery.)

Celebrities who follow Paleo Diets

Gwyneth Paltrow

Megan Fox

Jessica Biel

Miley Cyrus

Jack Osbourne

Eva LaRue

Matthew McConaughey

Uma Thurman

Researchers at John Hopkins University evaluated 4,200 studies about weight loss to see which plans worked best. Interestingly, they found that the majority of weight loss programs had never been studied in randomised, clinical tests.

Participants in the two successful programs, on average, lost more weight after one year than people who were either dieting on their own, got printed health information, or received other forms of education and counselling sessions. People on Weight Watchers lost 2.6 per cent more weight than a control group and Jenny Craig participants lost 4.9 per cent more.

The study found the Atkins diet (high in fat, low in carbohydrates) to “appear promising”, but required more research to back it up as an effective long term approach.

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Unfortunately, even the two most effective diets weren’t proven to be miracle workers, producing modest results. But they’re certainly better approaches to take than losing a lot of weight on other (probably less healthy) diets, only to put it all back on a few weeks later.

The authors of the study advised people looking for ways to lose weight to consider more than just how they’ll look in a bikini.

“We want people to experience the health benefits of weight loss – lower blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar, and lower risk of developing diseases like diabetes,” says study co-author Jeanne Clarke.

“Those benefits are long-term goals; losing weight for three months, then regaining it, has limited health benefits.”

Check out some of The Glow team’s favourite body image quotes from celebs we love.

Rebel WilsonThe actress said on Twitter; "I'm not trying to be hot. I'm just trying to be a good actress and entertain people."

Image via @rebelwilson

Adele"The first thing to do is be happy with yourself and appreciate your body - only then should you try to change things about yourself."

Image via Getty

Lady GagaAfter the media focused on her alleged weight gain in September 2012, Gaga hit back at critics by baring her body in photographs, sharing her struggles with an eating disorder, and inviting her fans to join her in a "body revolution"/ Image via @ladygaga

Ashley JuddAfter the March 2012 frenzy around Judd's "puffy face" the actress fought back in 'The Daily Beast', calling the media out for making women's bodies "a source of speculation, ridicule, and invalidation, as if they belong to others". Image via @ashley_judd

Christina Aguilera"I am always in support of someone who is willing and comfortable in their own skin enough to embrace it," the singer said in a recent interview. Image via @xtina

Lena DunhamAt the 2012 New Yorker Festival, the magazine's TV critic, Emily Nussbaum, asked Lena Dunham, producer, creator and star of the hit HBO show 'Girls' why Dunham is naked in so many scenes.

Dunham responded; "I realised that what was missing in movies for me was the presence of bodies I understood." She said she plans to live until she is 105 and show her thighs every day. Image via @lenadunham

Alexa ChungChung responded to critics who suggested that her slight frame made her a bad role model for young women, saying:

"Just because I exist in this shape doesn't mean that I'm, like, advocating it." Image via Twitter @alexa_chung

Stella BoonshoftThe NYU student started the amazing Body Love Blog, where she posted this picture of herself and wrote an open letter to those who feel entitled to shame others for the size or look of their bodies. Image via http://thebodyloveblog.tumblr.com"> Body Love Blog

Beth DittoThis five-foot-tall, 200-pound singer spoke openly about her weight to 'The Advocate' saying, "I feel sorry ... for people who've had skinny privilege and then have it taken away from them. I have had a lifetime to adjust to seeing how people treat women who aren't their idea of beautiful and therefore aren't their idea of useful, and I had to find ways to become useful to myself." Image via @marybethditto

Have you tried any of these diets? How did they work for you?