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More low carb research

Here are 2 new studies on the low carb diet:

Long-term effects of a very-low-carbohydrate weight loss diet compared with an isocaloric low-fat diet after 12 mo.

Interesting because it looks at a very low carb diet: 4%, 35%, and 61% of energy as carbohydrate, protein, and fat, respectively. Conclusion: The LC diet may offer clinical benefits to obese persons with insulin resistance.

And the second one:

Low-carbohydrate diet disrupts the association between insulin resistance and weight gain.

The adoption of LCD promotes a unique metabolic state that prevents insulin resistance, even in guinea pigs that gained more weight. The association between weight gain and insulin resistance seems to be dependent on high carbohydrate intake.

That is an interesting conclusion!




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Nick said…
Hi Chris,

Each diet composition in the first study show impressive results that most people would be happy to attain. I am still a bit challenged in understanding how to read the abstracts, so I couldn't tell how different the lipid results were between the diets. I also couldn't tell how many calories were being consumed in each diet.

I eat LC to manage metabolic issues, and the weight and fat loss on a percentage basis is much better on the LC diet, but I have to believe the LF diet was much easier to adhere to. It is very difficult for most people to get to 4% carbs, including the fact they would have to give up so many foods they would not have to give up on the LF diet.

It seems likely the actual foods eaten had more impact on the positive benefits of the LC diet vs. the LF diet (perhaps greatly reduced grain consumption is why LC gets better metabolic results?). Do the impressive changes on the metabolism realized in both diets suggest that body composition is the most important factor in maintaining health vs. diet composition (assuming both diets are comprised of whole foods and have similar N-6 to N-3 ratios)?

I have found that LC helps from a satiety standpoint, but the more balanced LF diet suggest that LC is not necessarily the panacea many of the blogs suggest it is.
May 18, 2009 at 8:43 AM
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