Carbs in Weight Loss Plans Study
A Low-Carbohydrate vs. a Low-Fat Diet in
Severe Obesity.
The effects of a carbohydrate-restricted
diet on weight loss and risk factors for atherosclerosis have been incompletely
assessed.
Carbs & Weight Loss Study - Methods
We randomly assigned 132 severely obese subjects (including 77 blacks
and 23 women) with a mean body-mass index of 43 and a high prevalence
of diabetes (39 percent) or the metabolic syndrome (43 percent) to a carbohydrate-restricted
(low-carbohydrate) diet or a calorie - and fat-restricted (low-fat) diet.
Carbs & Weight Loss Study - Results
Seventy-nine subjects completed the six-month study. An analysis including
all subjects, with the last observation carried forward for those who
dropped out, showed that subjects on the low-carbohydrate diet lost more
weight than those on the low-fat diet and had greater decreases in triglyceride
levels, irrespective of the use or non-use of hypoglycemic or lipid-lowering
medications. Insulin sensitivity, measured only in subjects without diabetes,
also improved more among subjects on the low-carbohydrate diet. The amount
of weight lost and assignment to the low-carbohydrate diet were independent
predictors of improvement in triglyceride levels and insulin sensitivity.
Carbs & Weight Loss Study - Conclusions
Severely obese subjects with a high prevalence of diabetes or the metabolic
syndrome lost more weight during six months on a carbohydrate-restricted
diet than on a calorie- and fat-restricted diet, with a relative improvement
in insulin sensitivity and triglyceride levels, even after adjustment
for the amount of weight lost.
This finding should be interpreted with
caution, given the small magnitude of overall and between-group differences
in weight loss in these markedly obese subjects and the short duration
of the study. Future studies evaluating long-term cardiovascular outcomes
are needed before a carbohydrate-restricted diet can be endorsed.
Source: Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical
Center, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, USA.
Weight Loss News
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loss diet program is best and so forth. At present, however, a balanced
diet combined with regular exercise remains the favorite weight loss strategy
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