Is it harmful to eat a low-carbohydrate diet for weight loss? Or is it even HEALTHIER than the current low-fat dietary advice?
A major new study published today further fuels the debate and has already made major headlines. In the study 148 people were told to eat either a low-carb diet (under 40 g of carbs per day) or a low-fat diet, for one year.
The results are similar to those in previous studies. Once again, those on a low-carb diet lost significantly more weight, in this case three times more:
Dashed line = the low-carb group
Those who ate a low-carbohydrate diet also lost more fat mass.
What will upset people the most is that the low-carb group also got better cholesterol levels than those in the low-fat group! As usual, they got more of the good HDL cholesterol, lower triglycerides and an improved cholesterol profile (total/HDL). As if this wasn’t enough, the fat eaters in the low-carb group received a significantly lower risk assessment for heart disease according to the 10-year Framingham risk score!
In addition, the low-carb group got significantly less inflammation in the body (measured as CRP).
Finally, conspiracy theorists don’t get any support that “the meat industry” is behind all studies showing that low-carb diets work best. This study was funded by American tax dollars (through the National Institutes of Health). None of the authors have any financial ties to the industry.
Even before this study the results were nearly unanimous that a low-carb diet provides a better weight and better health markers than today’s low-fat advice:
Swedish Expert Committee: A Low-Carb Diet Most Effective for Weight Loss
After today’s study the truth becomes even clearer. It becomes even harder (and more embarrassing) for people to stick their heads in the sand.
When are people with weight problems going to receive scientifically sound dietary advice from most health care professionals? Hopefully soon.
The Study
Annals of Internal Medicine: Effects of Low-Carbohydrate and Low-Fat Diets: A Randomized Trial
Big Headlines:
TIME: For Weight Loss, Low-Carb Diet Beats Low-Fat
New York Times: A Call for a Low-Carb Diet
Reuters: Low-carb diets may beat low-fat options for weight loss, heart health
Washington Post: Low carb diets more than low fat ones may help protect against heart disease
USNews: Low-Carb Beats Low-Fat for Weight Loss, Heart Health: Study
Well Wade, I think you've identified one of the major problems with our healthcare system right there. Doctor's have been stuck on some really bad science and despite the dramatically and demonstrably awful results of the last 30 years of giving such advice, continue to do so despite all evidence to the contrary.
What is a non-scientist supposed to make of all this conflicting advice. Every one of us can site paper after paper that supports our belief and discredits that of another proponent. Even people experts who agree on much with each other may disagree vehemently with others on specifics. To the lay community - it's pretty confusing - and we don't have the ability to properly evaluate the papers and studies.
But we can evaluate our own bodies and measure the impacts of dietary changes over time on them. I followed all the best advice out there. I'm highly educated with a post-graduate degree from a top university. I am solidly upper-middle class and have access to the best medical care my community offers. I live in a major metropolitan area - there are hundreds of experts with a short drive of my home. I have Dean Ornish's book underlined and dog eared. I did everything my Doctors asked of me including cutting back on fats, calorie restriction, working out more (aerobically, to be in the "fat burning zone"), etc. etc. What did that advice get me? 40lbs of extra central fat and a really healthy case of T2 diabetes.
So, after following conventional advice for decades and ending up with a pretty horrible outcome, I thought I would try something different. I went LCHF despite all my doubts and belief in Dean Ornish (if only I followed his diet just a bit better, I would have been spared this debacle).
And then a miracle happened. In about 1/2 year I lost 40lbs. My BMI went from 30 to 24. My body fat went from 32% to 20%. OK, I hear you, anyone can lose weight on a diet - but is it healthy?
You tell me. My blood pressure went from ~140/90 (on medication) to ~110/55 (no medication), My triglycerides went from 183 to 93. My FBG went from 200+ to under 100. My HbA1c went from 14.3 to 6.6 in 3 months (I expect it'll drop even further the next time I measure it). My RHR went from above 90 to below 50. I stopped taking three medications (including atorvastatin, Hyzaar and Pepcid AC) as I no longer had any problems with cholesterol, blood pressure or the chronic GERD I suffered from. Then there are the harder to quantify health issues that were having a major impact on my quality of lief that I was having including: fatigue and brain fog (gone), snoring and sleep apnea (gone), constant headaches (gone), insomnia (gone), anxiety (gone). In fact, every medical complaint I had prior to changing diets is gone.
If someone could have bottled a medicine that cured all my complaints and put it in a pill what would it be worth to me?
So you tell me, am I healthier today on a LCHF diet or before when I was on a high carb/low fat diet?
But I was a diabetic you say - my results may not applicable to healthy people. I wouldn't conclude that either. My metabolic issues almost certainly began decades prior to be diagnosed with T2 diabetes. If an observant doctor has noticed my 10 lb gain and high blood pressure and elevated triglycerides in my 20s for what it was (almost certainly strong indications of insulin resistance) and educated me about the consequences, and more importantly, the lifestyle changes that could prevent such consequences, I could have been spared this now chronic, expensive, and lifelong condition.
The diabetic community is an amazing resource - we are collectively doing millions of n=1 experiments, sharing our results on-line and trading information about what works and what does not. Spend a little time on the diabetic forums and you will learn that the almost overwhelming conclusion of these millions of individual experiments is that almost all T2 diabetics began the process having lived on a high carb/low fat diet for decades, per conventional wisdom, and that all of them have found the best course of treatment to lie in restricting carbs greatly and increasing health fats. I believe this amazing community of T2 diabetics will among those leading the way on the sea change that is taking place.
I agree there is a lack of good studies about your question. In absence of such, I'll operate on the precautionary principle. I know now that fat doesn't make me fat, that dietary cholesterol doesn't increase blood serum cholesterol, and that my HDL, LDL, Triglyceride markers are all improved. I also note that my waist is 9" slimmer (central obesity), that my BP went from 140/90 (controlled) to 115/50 (unmedicated), and my RHR went from ~90 to <50. My BMI dropped 6 points from 30 to below 24 (a 40lb weight loss). On top of it all, my blood sugar levels are now stabilized at near normal levels.
So, you tell me. I have a choice. I can go with what I've observed by making a change from a low-fat high carb data to a high fat/low carb diet with all the markers improved above (as well as complete improvement in a whole host of other medical ailments listed above), or I can hang my hat on a single study of 22 males by Dean Ornish, not controlled for all the other factors including the meditation and yoga they he had them do, and not replicated by anyone else.
Hmmm. . .this is a tough call.