Diet composition and obesity – Authors' reply

1 Swinburn BA, Sacks G, Hall KD, et al. The global obesity pandemic: shaped by global drivers and local environments. Lancet 2011; 378: 804–14. 2 Mozaff arian D, Hao T, Rimm EB, Willett WC, Hu FB. Changes in diet and lifestyle and long-term weight gain in women and men. N Engl J Med 2011; 364: 2392–404. 3 Bradley PJ. Pathophysiology of obesity. Lancet 1993; 341: 641. 4 Vartanian LR, Schartz MB, Brownell K. Eff ects of soft drink consumption on nutrition and health: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Public Health 2007; 97: 667–75. 5 Brownell KD, Farley T, Willett WC, et al. The public health and economic benefi ts of taxing sugar-sweetened beverages. N Engl J Med 2009; 361: 1599–605. Swinburn and colleagues state that high protein or low GI diets are not suitable because of their “detrimental eff ect on the environment”. However, the 23% energy from protein in the Diogenes trial can be achieved by increasing plant proteins such as nuts and legumes. Low GI varieties of rice are eaten throughout south Asia, and the low GI of sushi might help explain the lower obesity incidence in Japan.