Johns Hopkins Health Alert
The Low-Carb/Low-Fat Diet Debate
If you have coronary heart disease and are overweight, you’ll want to try to drops those extra pounds through a regimen of regular physical exercise and a reduced-calorie diet. But which diet gives you the best chance of success: a low-carb or low-fat diet? Here’s advice from Johns Hopkins.
This is a good question -- and the best answer may be "something in between." Many studies have examined the low-carb/low-fat debate, typically showing that both approaches help people lose weight.
For example, a study in The New England Journal of Medicine found that of 322 obese adults, those on a low-carb diet lost 10 lbs over two years versus 6 lbs among those on a low-fat diet. While weight loss was greater with the low-carb diet, this eating plan can be high in saturated fat, which raises LDL cholesterol. This is particularly true if you take the bacon-and-eggs approach to low carb rather than choosing lower fat sources of protein, such as beans, nuts, and skinless poultry, as a substitute for carbohydrates.
So the most prudent diet may be one of moderation that is neither low fat nor low carb. In The New England Journal of Medicine study, a third group followed a Mediterranean diet -- low in red meat and saturated fat but fairly high in healthy fats from olive oil and fish and containing carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables. This group lost just as much weight as the low-carb-diet group.
In fact, the American Heart Association now recommends a Mediterranean-style diet for heart health instead of a strictly low-fat diet. A low-carb diet is not recommended, as its long-term effects on the heart are unknown.
Posted in Heart Health on July 17, 2009
Reviewed January 2011
Medical Disclaimer: This information is not intended to substitute for the advice of a physician. Click here for additional information: Johns Hopkins Health Alerts Disclaimer
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Nurse Nancy's comments make a lot of sense to me. There is another connected issue, too, and that is the source of the meat.
Is it not so that that ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6 is very different depending on how the meat was fed? Can we really group all red meat together? How does feeding method affect poultry, fish?
I know people who have done exceptionally well and have made huge improvements in their health on very low carb diets, but these diets are not only rich in veggies...they are rich in grass-fed (not necessarily organic) meat and poultry, and in wild fish.
Posted by: uxordepp | July 18, 2009 4:09 PM
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In response to your article on the low carb/low fat diet debate, was not represented accurately. The medical profession is obsessed with low fat, that they tend to be biased on any other alternative. Agreed, that saturated animal fats are not healthy for the body. It wasn't until recently that the medical profession finally conceded that omega-3 fats are a healthy essential part of good nutrition. On the low carb side of dieting, it needs to be made clear that processed carbs in ANY amount is just as harmful, if not more so than saturated animal fat! It needs to be stressed that whole grains, not "enriched" are healthy. Brown rice is healthier than white rice. Pasta is mostly made of enriched flour. Need to read the fine print on the "whole wheat pasta" box. The Mediterranean diet is a better alternative than just a low fat diet, but it still contains all that processed pasta. For weight loss & health, a low carb diet wins hands down. Sincerely, Nancy J. Lynch, RN
Posted by: Nurse Nancy | July 18, 2009 11:43 AM