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Low-carb diet more effective for short-term weight loss than low-fat diet, says review

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US researchers find that a low-carb diets outperform low-fat diets for short-term weight loss. This new study is the latest to confirm the benefits of low-carb diets, which have been shown to significantly help people with diabetes. As well as aiding weight loss, low-carb diet adherence can help improve blood glucose levels and blood pressure. Scientists at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona reviewed 41 trials to assess whether the low-carb diet is safe and effective for weight loss, as well as cardiovascular and metabolic health. When the low-carb diet was compared with other diets, such as a low-fat diet, it was found to be more effective for weight loss without adverse effects on blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol. Lead author Dr Heather Fields noted that a limitation of the review was a lack of information on the type of weight loss, such as whether it was muscle, fat or water. She added that while a low-carb diet is safe in the short-term, further research is needed on the long-term effects of the diet. "The best conclusion to draw is that adhering to a short-term low-carb diet appears to be safe and may be associated with weight reduction. "Physicians must keep in mind that the literature is surprisingly limited, considering the popularity of these diets. Our review found no safety issues identified in the current literature, but patients considering low-carb diets should be advised there is very little data on long-term safety and efficacy." Fields also stressed that people should ensure they steer clear of processed foods, which can increase the risk of death from all causes, including cancer. "We encourage patients to eat real food and avoid highly processed foods, especially processed meats such as bacon, sausage, hot dogs, and ham when following any particular diet," she said. The clinical review was published in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. For more information on eating a low-carb diet, visit our Low Carb Program which can help you eat healthily as well as improve blood glucose levels and overall health.

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plus my habit of boiling bacon for a couple of minutes before frying certainly removes a lot of the soluble chemicals - the water tastes very salty, and nitrates and nitrites are very soluble.
If some research had been done rather than doctors telling people low carbing that they should stop at once there would be over 100 years of information available by now.
 
The irony is that very little research was done into the high-carb, low-fat diet, but it was still foisted on us 40-odd years ago.
 
Tabbyjoolz said:
The irony is that very little research was done into the high-carb, low-fat diet, but it was still foisted on us 40-odd years ago.
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I was also told a low carb diet is unsustainable. HCP's also claim that people who put on weight are not following the eatwell guide, when challenged they will not accept the fact that it is unsustainable
 
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Tabbyjoolz said:
The irony is that very little research was done into the high-carb, low-fat diet, but it was still foisted on us 40-odd years ago.
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It was our choice to eat like that and of course thousands didn't eat low fat probably more than did. It did not mean those who did low fat had high carb meals all the time before diabetes. Low fat does not always mean high carb just as full fat does not have to mean low carb we all find the happy medium that suits us best
 
But low fat can rob us of essential nutrients and so damage our metabolisms and help to cause T2 and other problems. I chose to eat low fat becasue I was told it was healthy. I used vegetable oils for frying (until I realised that if the residue was so hard to clean from a pan then it was probably clogging my arteries too). I drank diet drinks. I ate wholemeal wheat products. I used low fat spread. I did what I told was healthy because I wanted to make a healthy choice. If I hadn't bothered I would have been better off. The tragedy is that millions of us believed what we were told by the authorities back then and many still believe it.
 
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I was told over and over that I was a bad person for putting on weight on 'normal' diets - I went to a slimming club and put on weight, and was told not to come again. The daft thing was that I had already worked out that I should eat low carb - I have got a BSc degree after all, it seemed obvious, but everyone said it was wrong. They I found Dr Atkins and almost everything he wrote meshed with what I thought had to be the truth.
 

Its actually quite hard to eat a low fat diet and not be eating a high carb diet. That is because a lot of proteins also have fat, so when trying to cut out fat you also limit your protein options a lot and end up on white fish and rabbit food.
 
CherryAA said:
Its actually quite hard to eat a low fat diet and not be eating a high carb diet. That is because a lot of proteins also have fat, so when trying to cut out fat you also limit your protein options a lot and end up on white fish and rabbit food.
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Also of course anything low fat always has more carbs than the full fat equivalent in my experience.. yoghurt is a great example..
 
I don't think we do lack anything by eating low fat as we still get the essential nutrients we need a long as we eat a variety of good foods like fish, eggs, poultry, dairy, avocados and good oils along with vegetables for vitamins and minerals My way of eating just means having very little saturated fat like red meat, sausages and bacon and full fat dairy like butter cream and yogurt because they are to rich tasting so I mostly look for the lower fat version of dairy stuff without a high sugar content because I prefer it. That is just my normal way of eating I didn't change to it because someone said a low fat diet was healthy in fact I had never thought of my diet as being low fat until I joined this forum and the talk was all about eating high fat.
 
I wasn't talking about your diet, which isn't low fat as far as I can see, it's simply 'enough fat'. I was talking about mine which was low fat because I believed it was healthy to eat as little fat as possible to control weight as fat is high calorie. It was years later that I learned that calories were only a small part of the equation.
 
I was told in 2001, to go on a healthy diet because of the warning signs.
That healthy diet, including wholemeal bread, low GI foods and low fat medium complex carbs in other words, the eat well balanced diet, five fruit, five veg! Trim fat off meat, cook with vegetable oils and grill everything! Eat good fruits! Count calories!
I was told many, many times to go on a diet by doctors, dsns and even an endocrinologist who had no answers to my weight gain, NAFL, and my deterioration of my general health. These so called diets were literally killing me!
They do not Take into account of how insulin response or insulin resistance works!
High levels of insulin, high levels of glucose, high levels of most hormones is not recommended for your health, but for diabetics especially T2s, eating even medium to low GI foods will exacerbate the condition.
Tolerance and resistance, with inflammation can cause so many problems to the diabetic, why is it necessary to eat carbs with every meal?
The answer is the brain needs glucose and in the general health education is to treat T2 as if was T1! Keep glucose levels higher than normal, make sure you eat complex carbs for the brain!
T2 is different!
The so called healthy diet is not healthy!
When you work out the science, logic dictates that the need for carbs is particularly unnecessary in how the metabolism works!
That's why low carb higher fat works because it reduces insulin resistance and insulin response. It reduces inflammation, it reduces the need to eat more carbs, lower glucose levels, brings about better health, once the insulin levels reduce, the visceral fat reduces and you lose the unhealthy fats that effect the endocrine system.
Your organs process the nutritional and digestive stuff better!

The science is difficult but the results from so many sources are all agreed that low carb diet works, low fat diet doesn't!
 
I took a look at my notes once when left alone in a doctor's room - full of snide comments about my protests that the diets I had tried did not work.
During my first pregnancy I ate low carb foods, all went perfectly, then during the second pregnancy the doctor realised I was not doing 'eatwell' and went ballistic. Threatened me with being taken into hospital to be fed properly. At my next checkup I was diagnosed with pre eclampsia and told to come back in a week, as if it got worse I would be taken into hospital. The following week I had improved greatly - but I did not tell them why.
That was over 30 years ago. I think that doing low carb kept me from being diabetic - though I was never tested so I have no idea how long I have had high BG readings.
 
Emphasis here on short term. Where is the evidence on long term effects ie over many decades? Doctors assert, without evidence, that lchf results in poorer long term health due to dyslipidaemia.
Why is research into long term effects not being done, and why have medical researchers repeatedly refused to provide original data from presented research, when the Singapore Statement on research integrity says they should?
 
I ate a very low fat diet for years and as a direct result I am missing two things. I am missing a normal functioning metabolism and my gall bladder. The huge increase in gallbladder disease is another consequence of low fat. If you do not eat fat your gallbladder does not contract to release bile. The bile just sits there and hardens into stones. The reason that fats cause a gallbladder attack in someone who has stones is because the gallbladder contracts and the stones block the duct.
 
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