foodconsumer.org: High fat low carb diet may raise  heart risk

High fat low carb diet may raise  heart risk
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admin on 12/10/2009 01:53:00
 
By David Liu
Dr Steven Hunter from the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast and colleagues found
that a high fat low carb diet and a high carb low fat diet have the same effects
on weight loss and glucose metabolism except that the high fat low carb diet
raises risk of heart disease.
High fat and low carb diet like Atkins diet is popular with those who want to
lose weight, because this diet promotes short term weight loss effectively even
though the dieters could not maintain the effect for a long term.
Additionally, nutritionists are worried that the high fat low carb diet lacks
many essential nutrients, particularly those fat-insoluble nutrients and
predisposes the dieters potentially for many illnesses.
Dr, Hunter and colleagues compared a high fat low carbohydrate diet with 60
percent fat and 20 percent carbohydrate and a low fat and high carbohydrate diet
with 20 percent fat and 60 percent carbohydrate for their effects on blood
sugar, insulin, arterial stiffness and cardiovascular risk factors in 24
overweight or obese subjects aged 39 plus or minus 10 years with an average body
mass index of 33.6 kg/m2.
In the 8-week trial, subjects were given randomly either the high fat low carb
diet or the high carb low fat diet.  All the overweight or obese subjects
consumed 500 kcal/day less than the amount normally required for individuals
with a normal BMI.
The researchers assessed insulin action, insulin secretion by the euglycaemic
clamp and measured body composition, adipokine levels of vascular compliance by
pulse-wave analysis among other things.
The researchers found that the risks of low carb high fat diet far outweighed
the potential benefits in overweight and obese people through weight loss
including improvements in blood pressure and risk factors for coronary heart
disease.
Both diets had equal health benefits in all areas including weight loss, the
body's blood sugar uptake or production, meal tolerance-related insulin
secretion.  But those who were on the high fat and low carb diet were more
likely to have worse arterial stiffness than those who used the high carb low
fat diet.
Dr. Colin T Campbell, a nutritionist at Cornell University says in his book
China Study that Chinese people in rural areas have higher intake of calories
and low intake of meat and fat, but are less likely to have any problems with
the heart and body weight than people in the United States.  He suggests that
high intake of fat and low intake of carb in the United States is one of the
most important reasons for the difference.