Good News for Low Carbers

Filed under: General Health, Nutrition

While I am of the mind that quality of carbs is just as important, if not more so, than quantity of carbs, I do recognize the fact that low-carb diets work well for a lot of people, and can be especially beneficial as a dietary intervention in people with certain conditions (like diabetes and epilepsy).

Unfortunately people like the American Dietetic Association (of which I am a part of) and a lot of MDs have warned us of the “dangers” of a low-carb, high-fat, high-protein diet. You know like potential kidney damage, increased cardiovascular disease risk from that extra dietary fat, and other non-sense that has just not been found to be true yet is somehow taught in nutrition undergrad courses and written about incessantly.

Maybe these RDs are just afraid that their constant recommendations of high-carb low-fat diets will be shown to be no more beneficial or safe than other methods?

Thankfully actual research is being done on the topic, and it is showing that low-carb diets are actually not dangerous. Shocking, I know.

Recently a two year study was conducted comparing a low-carb Atkins style diet to an ADA recommended low-fat low-calorie diet. The researchers measured weight loss, HDL (the “good” cholesterol) and other markers of health in 307 adults.

At the end of two years both groups lost the same amount of weight on average – about 15lbs. The biggest difference between the two groups was actually in cardiovascular disease risk.

If you had asked a traditional MD or RD which group would decrease its cardiovascular disease risk the most after this trial, they undoubtedly would have answered with the low-fat group. Obviously, its low-fat, and fat contributes to heart disease right?

Surprisingly, this study found that the low-carb dieters increased their HDL by 23%, which is comparable to the boost from a lot of pharmaceuticals. Both groups had equal improvements in LDL, which I am sure would surprise a lot of traditionalists as well, since the low-carb group most definitely are more fat and more saturated fat, and saturated fat raises LDL and therefore heart disease risk right? Hhmmm…

There was an initial rise in LDL in the low-carb group, but by the two year mark this had dropped and their LDL levels were equal to the low-fat group. This is expected as the body adjusts to the increase in saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet, and this has been discussed ad nauseum over at wholehealthsource.

The moral of the story is that if you choose to eat a low carb diet for whatever reason, as long as you choose real whole foods you will markedly improve your health and not increase your cardiovascular disease risk.

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1. Matt Biancuzzo Says:
   August 6th, 2010 at 2:08 am

   Brian,

   Do you have a link to that article you discussed? I’d be really interested in reading more about it. Thanks!

2. Brian St. Pierre Says:
   August 6th, 2010 at 6:21 am

   Matt,

   Here ya go: http://www.annals.org/content/153/3/147.abstract

3. Matt Biancuzzo Says:
   August 7th, 2010 at 10:53 am

   Thanks Brian! I hope all is going well with the new location and everything. I’m sure they all are missing you at CP.

4. Reading Material Monday « SB Training and Nutrition Says:
   August 12th, 2010 at 11:12 am

   [...] is a post by Brian St.Pierre about the benefits of a low carb diet.  The research is finally out proving that [...]

5. Zach Says:
   August 25th, 2010 at 11:52 am

   hey brian, i HIGHLY recommend you check out this article before you EVER cite this study:

   http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2010/08/19/another-biased-study-maybe/

   tom naughton tells it like it is

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