Meat-based low-carb diets may increase weight gain over time, study finds

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If you want to lose weight and keep that weight off with a low-carb diet, consider the quality of the food you eat, according to a new study comparing five types of low-carb diets.

A study found that people who ate an unhealthy meat-based, low-carbohydrate diet gained more weight over time than those who ate a healthier plant-based diet.

“When people consume a diet that emphasizes carbohydrates from whole grains, healthy non-tropical vegetable oils, and plant-based proteins, they are more likely to avoid excess weight gain,” said the study's senior author and associate said Professor Dr. Chi Sang. She majored in nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in Boston.

This study compared an overall low-carbohydrate diet to a diet that primarily consisted of animal protein and fat. The second meal focuses on plant-based proteins and fats. A healthy low-carb diet that focuses on reducing refined carbohydrates, increasing plant-based protein, and eating healthy fats such as olive oil. And finally, an unhealthy diet plan is defined as one that includes unhealthy fats, more animal protein, and refined grains.

“To my knowledge, investigating the effects of different low-carbohydrate variants on sustained weight loss is novel,” says David Katz, a preventive and lifestyle medicine expert and founder of the nonprofit organization said the doctor. A commitment to true health, a global coalition of experts specializing in evidence-based lifestyle medicine. He was not involved in the study.

All meals reduced carbohydrates to approximately 38% to 40% of daily caloric intake. However, people who were on an unhealthy carbohydrate diet high in animal protein and fat tended to eat more fruits, whole grains, and non-starchy vegetables, and lower their intake of dairy products, red meat, processed meat, and sugar. They gained more weight over time than those who reduced their weight. – Sweet drinks, sweets and desserts.

The person who hired unhealthy “A low-carbohydrate diet as a primary strategy resulted in an average weight gain of about 2.3 kg (5.1 lb) over a four-year period,” said Binkai Liu, research assistant and lead author in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard's TH Chan School of Public Health. says.

“The person who hired health “With a low-carbohydrate diet as the primary strategy, participants lost approximately 2.2 kg (4.9 lbs) on average, with an average net difference of 10 lbs,” she said in an email.

the study, Published on Wednesday The journal JAMA Network Open examined data from more than 67,000 participants in three established longitudinal studies. Nurse health survey Conducted from 1986 to 2010, Health learning for nurses IIconducted from 1991 to 2015. Follow-up by medical professionals; It was conducted from 1986 to 2018.

“Of course, these are observational studies and are not designed to prove causation. Rather, they reveal associations,” Katz said. “However, if the observed association is strong, dose-responsive, difficult to explain, and linked to a plausible mechanism, causality may be inferred.”

All participants in the three studies were healthy, under 65 years of age, and had no pre-existing chronic conditions. Weight loss or gain was self-reported at 4-year intervals.

Studies have shown that low-carbohydrate diets that emphasize “high-quality macronutrients from healthy plant-based foods” are associated with reduced weight gain, and that “low-carbohydrate diets that emphasize protein and fat from animal sources or refined carbohydrates” are associated with reduced weight gain. “Dieting was associated with increased weight gain.” Weight gain. “This association was more evident among people who were younger, heavier, and less active, the study found.

“The bottom line is that over a four-year period, simply adopting a 'low-carbohydrate' diet was not associated with sustained weight loss in people trying to lose weight in general, whereas plant-based “Carbohydrate diets were associated with sustained weight loss,” Katz said in an email.

Although the study focused on low-carbohydrate diets, Sun, who is also director of the Nutritional Biomarkers Laboratory at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said the importance of food quality is important in any diet. He said that.

“A diet focused on fresh fruit and non-starchy vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, olive oil or other vegetable oils, coffee, tea or just plain water, moderate amounts of red wine, and foods low in sodium. “It's always wise to choose . . . and other healthy ingredients,” Sun said.

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