A Low-Carb Diet May Not Be So Healthy After All, Latest Study Claims
A large-scale study that was published in the Lancet Public Health journal examines the effects of low, moderate and high carbohydrate intake on the mortality risk.
These days more and more people are concerned with losing weight, and the prevalence of the low carb diet seems to be increasing.
The latest research has shown that both too much carbs and too little in a diet can trigger concern.
A new research showed that if you really had to choose between two types of low-carb diet, you should be selecting the one that replaces carbs with plant-derived proteins and fats.
Such diets could prolong life, unlike the ones that only aim to replace carbs with animal protein and fat.
Moderate carb intake is the best option
Dr. Sara Seidelmann, a clinical and research expert in cardiovascular medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA, led this research that we previously mentioned.
“Low-carb diets that replace carbohydrates with protein or fat are gaining widespread popularity as a health and weight loss strategy. However, our data suggest that animal-based low-carbohydrate diets, which are prevalent in North America and Europe, might be associated with shorter overall lifespan and should be discouraged,” Seidelmann said.
She continued and explained that “Instead, if one chooses to follow a low-carbohydrate diet, then exchanging carbohydrates for more plant-based fats and proteins might actually promote healthy aging in the long-term.”
The motivation for this research comes from the fact that previous studies have suggested that low-carb diets are great for weight loss and metabolic health which seems to be the case only in the short-term.
The long-term effects triggered conflicting results on the other hand.
The first part of the study mentioned above revealed that a low intake of carbs (less than 40% of the total energy intake coming from carbs) and a high intake (70%) are correlated with a risk of premature mortality.
The conclusion was that a moderate carb intake of 50-55% is correlated to 4 more years of life.
Rada attended the courses in the Faculty of Letters, Romanian-English section, and finished the Faculty of Theatre and Television, Theatrical Journalism section, both within the framework of Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca. Up ’til now, she reviewed books, movies, and theatre-plays, enjoying subjects from the cultural niche. Her experience in writing also intersects the IT niche, given the fact that she worked as a content editor for firms that produce software for mobile devices. She is collaborating with online advertising agencies, writing articles for several websites and blogs.