Low carb diets, made famous by Robert Atkins have frequently been reported by the media as faddish, dangerous and have even been said to have been the cause of Dr Atkin's death.
When it comes to weight loss it seems that there are two camps. One side shouts "a low fat diet is the only way to lose weight", and on the other "high carbohydrates are the cause of all evil". Surely they can't both be right can they? Perhaps they can.
A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in 2010 looked at two groups of dieters to see if there was a difference in weight loss between a low fat diet and a low carb diet.
In both groups were overweight men and women who averaged out to over 230lbs (105kg) in weight. They were randomly assigned to either a low carb diet or a low fat diet.
Those in the low fat diet not only had a low fat diet (duh) but also were on calorie restrictions of 1200-1500 calories if female and 1500-1800 if male. In their diet they have approximately 55% of the energy came from carbs.
Those in the low carb diet where initially limited to 20g (2/3 oz) of carbs and they were allowed as many calories as they wished from protein and fat. The number of carbs was slowly raised after the first 12 weeks.
After one year both groups had lost about 24lbs or just over 10kg.
What is very interesting is that while both groups did have success with their weight loss there were additional benefits for those that were on the low carb diet. These included an improvement in the fat profiles of the blood with good fats (HDL) rising and the bad fats associated with formation of plaque in the arteries (LDL) were reduced. Demonstrating that while both diets are good for losing weight, choosing low carb may give you the additional health benefits.
Dr George is a family practitioner based in Australia.
He has a strong interest in men's health and also weight loss for men.
He has a website www.MensWeightLossGuide.com that offers insight to many mens health issues with a focus on weight loss for men.
He has a strong interest in men's health and also weight loss for men.
He has a website www.MensWeightLossGuide.com that offers insight to many mens health issues with a focus on weight loss for men.
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