Low Carb Diets: A Fight To The Death
A recent study suggests you may die from prolonged use of a low-carb diet. To be precise, you’ll have a greater chance of dying with a low-carb diet.
Now I’m not a fan of low-carb.
I don’t believe in eliminating any food groups when you diet. Because I just don’t think it’s healthy.
But I know a lot of people swear by low-carb diets.
So Exactly What Did These Researchers Find?
Well, according to a study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers from the University of Athens in Greece analyzed the diets of almost 23,000 Greek adults.
Using questionnaires, the researchers looked at how much protein and carbohydrates the participants ate versus their rates of death.
The Conclusion…
Over a 10-year period, people who ate low-carb, high-protein diets were more likely to die — by about 22%. They suffered more cardiovascular and cancer deaths.
Now the researchers didn’t say their results applied to short-term use of a low-carb diet. They were talking about long-term diet habits.
So How Do You View The Results Of This Study?
For the people who’ve heard of the study, there seems to be something of a fight to the death.
Many low-carb dieters don’t want to hear anything negative about their weight loss choice. Especially if it’s working for them.
On the other side, the low-carb critics can latch onto this study as another reason that low-carb is inadvisable, if not downright dangerous.
I don’t know if the conclusions drawn by the researchers are valid or not.
But Here’s My Question:
If you’re obese and you want to use a low-carb diet over a long period of time, does the risk of dying from the low-carb diet outweigh (no pun intended) the risk of dying from the unhealthy effects of obesity?
As far as I know, no one’s studied that.
But what if low-carb is the diet that fits your lifestyle and personality? Do you think it’s worth the risk?
Or do you think this study is flawed?
If You’re On Low-Carb, Would This Study Make You Switch Diets?
I don’t know how many low-carb dieters read this blog. But if you’re out there, give me your opinion.
Even if you’re not a low-carb dieter, let me know what you think.
What If Your Diet Had Been The One Implicated In This Study?
Suppose you’re obese and on a diet that’s working for you. You’ve tried just about everything else with no success. Then a study comes out saying you have a greater risk of dying if you continue with your diet.
Would you stay on it or would you switch to a supposedly safer diet?
Technorati Tags: diet, dieting, lose weight, weight loss, low carb
May 16th, 2007 at 9:51 am
Several months ago I was talking to a physician friend of mine. He was telling me about his experience with the ‘Atkins Diet.’ He said,’ I lost 80 pounds on Atkins, then I had to have heart bypass surgery.’ A low carb diet does work for weight loss, but it is CRISES management! In my opinion, a well balanced diet with minor modifications to take the individual into account is the best way to go in the long run.
May 16th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
That’s scary stuff. If other people have experiences like what Dr J talked about, why aren’t we being told about this? If I heard my diet would increase my chance of dying, I’d switch on a dime. What good is weight loss if you’re dead?
May 16th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
I’d want to be sure the study made sense before I stopped a diet that was working. But I wouldn’t stay on a diet if my health was at risk if I was sure it really was at risk.
May 16th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Weight loss is so hard I don’t think I could give up a diet that’s working unless I was going to drop over dead pretty fast.
May 16th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
Gotta go with Dr. J on this one. Well balanced with some changes for what you like.
May 16th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
I agree with Denise. I wouldn’t switch unless I was sure there was a problem. A lot of these studies get contradicted by another study a few years later and it gets hard to know what the truth is.
May 16th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Dieting’s not only about looking better, it’s about feeling better, too… at least I think it is. Why would anyone want to go on a diet that can hurt you? Isn’t that as bad as going on a crash diet? But as Denise said, I’d want to be sure my health was really at risk.
May 16th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
Diet’s history if it messes with my health.
May 16th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
I’d switch diets immediately. I don’t want to take the risk of dying from a diet.
May 18th, 2007 at 12:13 am
This all sounds like a bunch of hand waving. No links to the study or any details.
This researcher assessed the diet of the participants by way of a questionnaire. Can we see that questionnaire? Can we see the raw data and assessment methodology used? I am sorry, but I am not so convinced that this “study” (which it wasn’t) wasn’t flawed. Why should we assume it wasn’t flawed? Because Dr. Acocella says so? I am sorry, but I’d like to assess it myself first.
Second, this was an epidemiological study, which are notorious for the many confounding factors. Many “experts” absolutely love epidemiological studies because it’s possible to prove almost anything with epidemiological studies. Is there any documentation about these confounding factors? How was that accounted for in the assessment?
Here’s a link which talks about this:
http://livinlavidalocarb.blogspot.com/2007/05/does-study-prove-high-protein-low-carb.html
What about populations that have lived centuries on low carbohydrate diets and are perfectly healthy: Masai in east Africa and the Inuit(Eskimos)?
Using the Greek population to comprise her pool of study participants, Trichopoulou observed the diet of 22,944 healthy adults and assessed their diet by way of a questionnaire. The researchers paid especially close attention to the protein and carbohydrate levels of the people in the study and more specifically their relationship to the rate of death among specific categories of people.
What she found was that 455 deaths happened over the 10-year period which Trichopoulou contributed to “high values of the additive low carbohydrate-high protein” diet. She also added that the study participants who ate such a diet saw more cardiovascular and cancer deaths than those who ate a high-carb diet.
May 18th, 2007 at 9:37 am
Hi Eric,
Your argument is well thought out and interesting. I agree it’s not the best way to perform a study. As I said, I don’t know whether the conclusions are valid or not. But even without a study, I’m not a fan of low-carb for the reasons I stated in my post.
I’m more in agreement with Dr. J’s comment: “… a well balanced diet with minor modifications to take the individual into account is the best way to go in the long run.”
Nevertheless, I respect everyone’s right to use a weight loss program that works for him or her. As long as your doctor thinks it’s healthy, then that’s what you should do.
Thanks for your comment.