Weight Loss Central

The players in the “diet wars” tend to fall into 2 camps: Low carb and Low fat. First let me define the diets. Low carb is any diet with less than 40% of it’s calories from carbohydrates. Low fat is one that get 30% or less of it’s calories from fat. Supporters of both claim their diets can reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD). Government recommendations and conventional wisdom have concentrated on reducing saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet. Recent studies are calling this into question. A study released in Nov 2004 showed: “In postmenopausal women with relatively low total fat intake, a greater saturated fat intake is associated with less progression of coronary atherosclerosis, whereas carbohydrate intake is associated with a greater progression.“

A November 2007 study showed a very low carb diet and a low fat diet both reduced 2 prominent features of metabolic syndrome, abnormal distribution of plasma fatty acids and increased inflammation. “In summary, a very low carbohydrate diet resulted in profound
alterations in fatty acid composition and reduced inflammation compared
to a low fat diet.”

So is what we have been told as fact all our lives wrong? What is going on here?

It appears there is some truth to both sides. A peer reviewed paper published April 2008 makes an interesting observation: “Again, the idea that carbohydrate is a
control element determining the fate of ingested lipid is overriding.” So it seems that saturated fat only becomes a problem when carbs are high. This explains why both sides of the diet wars have success stories like Jimmy Moore and Gerald Pugliese.

Both of these camps now recognize refined carbs of all kind is a bad food choice. Although the low fat dieters will tend to consider fat a much worse a choice than refined carbs, current science no longer supports this.
The take home is this, there are two ways to reduce your weight and reduce your risk of CVD. You can go low carb or you can go low fat. You can’t do both, but either way all studies show refined carbs are bad for you.

The best way for you will be the diet you can live with the rest of your life.