Originally published February 26 2006
New research suggests low-carb diets are effective
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Nutrition blogger Jimmy Moore analyzes new research by Dr. Alain Nordmann and Dr. Jeff Volek on the benefits of low-carb diets.
This MedPage Today article is about a new study that shows nearly identical weight loss for people on low-fat and low-carb diets, but there is concern about the low-carb group elevating their LDL cholesterol levels.
Researchers led by Dr. Nordmann from University Hospital in Basel, Switzerland conducted five controlled clinical trials on nearly 450 overweight study participants over a one-year time period, with half of them placed on a low-fat diet and the other half were on a low-carb diet.
Dr. Nordmann found that the low-carb diet group had lost more weight than the low-fat diet group after six months, but the weight loss was almost even after one year.
Blood pressure was also nearly identical, the researchers noted.
However, they discovered that there was an increase in the total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL "bad") cholesterol for the group following a low-carb diet.
They added that the rise in LDL cholesterol for the low-carb diet group completely negated any increase in HDL "good" cholesterol and decreases in triglyceride levels.
For the purposes of this study, "low-carb" was defined as 60g of carbohydrates per day while "low-fat" was 30% of energy intake as fat.
It all depends on the individual and subjecting some people to as many as 60g carbs per day may not have been the ideal way to help them maximize their weight reduction.
You see, this business about low-carb diets causing total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol to go up is frankly irrelevant in the face of the remarkable increases seen in HDL cholesterol and drops in triglycerides on a low-carb diet.
I met Dr. Volek during the Nutritional & Metabolic Aspects of Carbohydrate Restriction conference in Brooklyn, NY in January.
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