Low-Carbohydrate Controversy

There has been much controversy about both the effectiveness and safety of lower-carbohydrate diets. New studies from leading institutions including Duke and Harvard Universities have shown that low-carbohydrate diets are safe, healthy, lead to more permanent fat and weight loss, and have shown improvements in the dieters' blood lipid and cholesterol levels.

Several studies have shown that low-carbohydrate diets are more effective for weight and fat loss than the high-carbohydrate diets. The results of a study published in 2002 showed that the long-term use of a low-carbohydrate diet resulted in increased weight and fat loss, and a dramatic improvement in the lipid profile (decreased cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL, and increased HDL levels).

Two studies published in 2003 in the New England Journal of Medicine found that people on the high-protein, high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet lost twice as much weight over 6 months as those on the standard low-fat diet recommended by most major health organizations. In both studies, the low-carbohydrate dieters gen¬erally had better levels of "good" cholesterol and triglycerides, or fats in the blood. There was no difference in "bad" cholesterol or blood pressure.

The 132 men and women in the study conducted by the Veterans Affairs Department started out weighing an average of 286 pounds. After 6 months, those on the low-carbohydrate diet had lost an average of 12.8 pounds (5.7 kg); those on the low-fat diet 4.2 pounds (1.8 kg).

The other study involved 63 participants who weighed an average of 217 pounds (98.4 kg) at the start. After 6 months, the low-carbohydrate group lost 15.4 pounds (7 kg), the group on the standard diet 7 pounds (3.2 kg). In a follow-up to this study, the authors found that after 1 year there were several favorable metabolic responses to the low-carbohydrate diet.

Another scientific study published in the same year compared the effects of a low-carbohydrate diet with a low-fat control diet on weight loss and commonly studied cardiovascular risk factors. In this study, healthy obese women on the low-carbohydrate diet lost 8.5 kg, more than twice the amount of weight lost by women on the control diet, over a 6-month period. Loss of fat mass was also significantly greater in the low-carbohydrate group.

In a follow-up study the authors concluded that short-term weight loss is greater in obese women on a low-carbohydrate diet than in those on a low-fat diet even when reported food intake is similar. The authors did not and an explanation for these results since there were no measurable changes between the dieters.

Another study published in 2004 found that not only was weight loss greater but serum triglyceride levels decreased more and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level increased more with the low-carbohydrate diet than with the low-fat diet.

In the latest study, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, after analyzing data collected over 20 years from more than 82,000 women participating in the Nurses' Health Study, concluded that low-carbohydrate diets do not seem be linked to a higher risk of heart disease in women.

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