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EventsNew study: is low carb sustainable in the long run?
, medical review by Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt, MD
in Diabetes studies, Failed low-fat diets, New study 
A team of researchers in Japan has been studying low carbohydrate diets. In a study published in January 2014, the researchers had already found that a moderately low-carbohydrate diet is more effective than calorie restriction for improving lipid profile and blood sugar control in type-2 diabetics.
Now, in a new study, the team set out to find out whether eating a moderate low-carb diet is sustainable, effective and safe long term.
The researchers followed 200 patients with type 2 diabetes over a period of three years. They found that a moderate carbohydrate restriction (70–130 g/day) was enough to have a positive effect on the patients’ health markers, and that the diet is “highly effective, safe and sustainable”. They added that:
Over 36 months, the [moderate low carb] intervention showed sustained effectiveness (without safety concerns) in improving HbA1c, lipid profile, and liver enzymes in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes.
One of the big criticisms of low-carbohydrate diets is the claim that they are unsustainable long term, so it’s great to see teams of researchers carrying out studies to find out about the effects of following a low-carbohydrate diet over longer periods of time.
Check out our free guide to learn more about different levels of carbohydrate restriction. We also have some fantastic video courses, like this one, for getting started on a low-carbohydrate diet.
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Then, I loosened up a bit because...why not? I wanted some cake and pretzels.
When I got preggo, I stayed low carb. Now that the baby is 1, I've gone back to keto.
This is the lifestyle that just keeps on giving!!!
Next up, trying to convince my diabetic mom that most of what she "knows" about food is dusty old science.
centre studies with a larger sample size are needed to con-
firm our findings." The study does not appear to be about long term low carb diets at all.
Disappointing, to say the least.
Given that most people look into the low-carb diet for weight loss purposes, using this study to claim that it is "effective" is just plain dishonest.
I stay low carb most of the time but every few months need to have a beer and a pizza, normally for my sins I pay a penance of several days 24 hour fasting.
WHY does beer not show it's carb content on the label instead of just it's alcohol % ?
I am about 4 months into LCHF. I have told lots of friends about it. One friend had fatty liver. And another high cholesterol/ weight.
They are doing quite well, and spreading the word :-)
I’m on a plateau with my weight, but all clothes are loose. So still happy :-)
And will never go back to my old eating habits