Reducing your carbohydrate intake will slow your weight gain over time. But simply cutting back on carbohydrates isn't enough.
An analysis of data from approximately 125,000 healthy adults found that replacing refined carbohydrates (white bread, white rice, or sugary cereals) with whole grain foods and reducing animal fats and protein increased It has been found that weight gain appears to be reduced. That period, according to a report published Wednesday in JAMA Network Open.
“When it comes to low-carbohydrate diets, quality is paramount,” said the study's lead author, Qi Sun, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Nutrition and Epidemiology at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “What people should focus on is good carbohydrates.”
What are good carbohydrates?
- Whole grains such as oatmeal, whole wheat pasta, and bread.
- Fats from vegetable oils. However, it is not from tropical sources such as coconut or palm, which are high in saturated fat.
- Plant-based proteins such as beans, nuts, and soybeans.
- fruit.
- vegetables.
Sun says it's best to avoid refined grains like white flour, red and processed meats, and saturated fats.
The best animal protein is fish, followed by chicken.
This new study adds to the evidence that diets high in healthy carbohydrates, plant-based proteins and fats are associated with significantly slower long-term weight gain.
To take a closer look at the effects of nutrient selection, Sun and colleagues turned to three databases. One is the Nurses' Health Study, which enrolled 121,700 female nurses between the ages of 30 and 55. In the Nurses' Health Study II, she initially followed 116,340 female nurses between the ages of 25 and 42. The Health Professionals Follow-up Study enrolled 51,529 male health professionals aged 40 to 75 years.
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For their analysis, Sun and his team focused on 123,332 men and women without chronic health conditions.
Researchers didn't look at very low-carbohydrate diets such as keto, Atkins, or paleo.
In general, Americans tend to consume a diet containing 50% to 60% carbohydrates, Sun said. Low-carbohydrate diets typically contain 30% to 40% carbohydrates.
The researchers scored people's diets based on the quality of their meals and assigned them to categories based on their scores.
- Animal-based low carbohydrate diet (ALCD).
- Vegetable-based low carbohydrate diet (VLCD).
- A healthy low-carbohydrate diet (HLCD) that emphasizes plant-based proteins, healthy fats, and lower intake of refined carbohydrates.
- Unhealthy low carbohydrate diet (ULCD). Emphasize animal proteins, unhealthy fats, and refined carbohydrates such as processed breads and cereals.
Researchers found that when people improved the quality of their diet, their weight gain decreased over a four-year study.
For example, people in the healthy low-carbohydrate group who improved the most in their diet scores gained 2.1 pounds less on average compared to those who improved the least.
Two animal protein-based categories were associated with faster weight gain.
The study “shows that quality is important in low-carbohydrate diets,” said Dr. Sahar Taksh, an obesity expert and assistant professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. “Healthier choices are the key to better weight management.”
However, even healthy options can be unhealthy depending on how they are served. Popcorn is a good whole-grain option, Sun says, as long as it's not sprinkled with butter, sugar or salt.
However, Takshush said there are some limitations to this study.
Most of the participants were white women, so it is unclear whether the results would be the same for other groups. Also, dietary information and people's weights are based on self-reporting and can be flawed.
Still, research has focused on one area. certain foods Samaneh Farsijani, a registered dietitian in the department of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, said that low-carbohydrate diets that slow long-term weight gain had not previously been studied.
“We tell people that it's important to follow a low-carbohydrate diet, but it's also important to be selective about which foods you consume,” Farsigiani said. “What I really like about this study is the emphasis on a healthy, low-carbohydrate diet.”
