by Amy Norton
. Health reporter
What Is Fat Loss - Low-Carb Beats Low-Fat for Weight Loss, Heart Health: Study
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Monday, (health news) - For people who want to lose weight and increase their heart health, overthrowing carbohydrates can work better than trimming dietary fat, a new study suggests.
In a small obese adult clinical trial, researchers found that those designated to follow a low carbohydrate diet lost more weight over a year than those who followed a low-fat plan.
They also had further improvements in their cholesterol and triglyceride levels, the research team reports in September 2 edition of the Anais of Internal Medicine.
"On average, they lost another 8 pounds, and lost more body fat mass," said researcher Dr. Tian Hu, a doctorate companion at the University Tulane Public Health School in New Orleans.
And although some experts raised concerns that low carbohydrate diets could be less than healthy from the heart, these discoveries suggest in another way, said Dr. Lydia Bazzan, who also worked in the study.
"low carbohydrate diets traditionally were seen as potentially risky," said Bazzano, Tulane research professor.
However, in this study, people in the low carbohydrate diet have seen slightly larger improvements in their cholesterol levels and HDL triglycerides - another type of blood in the blood. That could have been due to the higher weight loss, Hu said, or for the largest quantities of "good" fat unsaturated in their diets.But he also noticed that the study ran for only one year, and it is not clear how people in any diet would do in the long run.
There are other warnings, according to a nutritionist who was not involved in the study.
For one, people in the low-carbohydrate diet are not well. The regime did not ask for more than 40 grams of carbohydrates per day - the equivalent of about two slices of bread. But by the end of the year, people in the low-carbohydrate group were with an average of 127 grams of carbohydrates per day, watched Sonya Angelone, a spokesman for the Nutrition and Dietetics Academy.
I think most people eat many carbohydrates, "she said. then eating less carbohydrates, and choosing the high quality - fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains - is a sound idea, according to angelone .
But one of the worries with a low-carbohydrate diet, she said, is that people will not get enough fibers. A high fiber diet can help you ward off heart disease, and studies suggest that you can help weight loss, making people feel more full.
So instead of lowering carbohydrates "too much" said Angelone, why not replace refined carbohydrates - like white bread and noodles - with fiber-rich foods?
The current study included 148 adults who were obese, but free of diabetes and heart problems. About half were randomly assigned to a low carbohydrate diet, while the remainder was placed in a low fat plane.
People in both groups had counseling sessions with a nutritionist: the low fat group was informed to get more than 30% of their daily calories of fat, while the low carbohydrate group received a limit of 40 Grams of carbohydrates per day. At the end of a year, the low-fat group was an average of almost 200 grams of daily carbohydrate compared to about 130 for the low carbohydrate group, according to the study.
At the end, 82% of the low-fat group attached to diet for a whole year. The same happened with 79% of the low carbohydrate group.
By the one-year mark, people in the low carbohydrate group have lost an average of almost 12 pounds. Compared to only four pounds for the low fat group.
According to Hu, the discoveries do not mean that low-carb is the "best" diet for weight loss. But, he said, "I think that means it's a good choice."
Bazzan recognized, however, that many of the study participants did not strictly follow their low-carbohydrate recipient plan. "It was more moderate than that," she said. And she agreed to be "careful" about the quantity and type of carbohydrates you eat is fundamental - as opposed to establish a rigid limit of carbohydrates.Angelone also pointed to another question with the study: the participants in the sedentary study were discouraged from taking the exercise, to isolate the effects of diet changes. But in real life, people would ideally change their diets and exercises.
"Muscles use carbohydrates as fuel," said Angelone. "It can be difficult to exercise on a low carbohydrate diet." In addition, she added, people in the low-fat diet, who were eating more carbohydrates, could have poured more weight if they were exercising.
Everyone agreed that there is no single-size diet. When it comes to heart health, for example, there are strong evidence that the Mediterranean diet - high in "good" carbohydrates and healthy fats like olive oil - is a smart option.
Ultimately, people need to make diet changes that can accompany the long course - not just until they lose a certain amount of weight. The pounds will come back if you get back to your old ways, Angelone said.
