Researchers from Stanford University report there will soon be a genetic test for helping people select whether a low fat or low carbohydrate diet will work best for helping them lose weight.

A study conducted on 133 overweight women and which followed the women for a year found, women with a genetic predisposition to benefit from a low carb diet lost 2 1/2 times as much weight, as those without the pre-disposition on the same diet. Likewise, was the case with women with a genetic make-up favouring a low-fat diet, who lost more weight than women curbing fat calories without low-fat genes.

Study co-author, Christopher Gardner, an Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford said it helps increase one's weight loss success by simply knowing one's genotype for low-carb or low-fat diets.

Suggesting the test can potentially yield useful results for much of the population, a separate study data indicates 45% of white women have a low-carb genotype, with 39% predisposed to a low-fat diet. Based on variations in three genes known to regulate the body's fat metabolisation and carbohydrates, the test findings need confirmation of a larger study. As well, additional research is needed to determine the test's usefulness, including its application to men and different racial groups.

These findings explain why two people on the same diet and exercise plan, has one succeeding, while frustrating the other. What the study results indicate is that even adhering strictly to a diet will not bring about desired results, if the diet is out of synch with their genetics.

Interleukin Genetics Inc., a developer of genetic tests sponsored the study, including developing the test that uses a cheek swab to obtain cells for DNA analysis, costing $149 on the market.

A dozen studies pitting low fat vs. low carb diets have been published in major medical journals, in the past decade. However, no winner has been declared and now experts are beginning to believe that diet type does not matter, as determining a person's genetic pre-disposition could help in the battle against over-weight and obesity.