A low-carbohydrate diet may be helpful for the heart. The new research runs counter to everything Americans have been told for the last four decades–namely that fat, especially saturated fat, will clog our arteries. The federally-funded study is one of the longest ever conducted, lasting two years.
Over 300 obese subjects were recruited to follow either an Atkin’s style low-carb approach or a low-calorie, low-fat diet. Both the low-fat and the low-carb approach helped people lose weight, about 15 pounds after two years. The reduction was comparable for both groups.
What was surprising, though, was that the people who were on the Atkin’s type low-carb diet increased their good HDL cholesterol by 23 percent, nearly twice that of the group following the low-fat diet. Raising HDL cholesterol is notoriously difficult. Few medications improve this important lipid level as effectively.
Reductions in bad LDL cholesterol and triglycerides were comparable in both groups. Another unexpected finding was that blood pressure decreased more in the low-carb group than in the low fat subjects. For years, nutrition experts have worried that following an Atkin’s-type diet would be bad for the heart. Based on the latest research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, such fears were unfounded. [Annals of Internal Medicine, August 3, 2010]
