Is A Low Carb Diet Good For You?
February 19, 2008 by Liz Harper
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I Often get questions about various diets and to be honest I don’t really believe in dieting….when I looked up the word “Diet” in the dictionary the definition was - a selection or a limitation on the amount a person eats for reducing weight…. So by definition, if you’re limiting what you eat or selecting specific foods - what happens when you stop? Or even worse, if you continue to diet.
I believe what ever you choose you need to be able to sustain it indefinitely. When you factor that in, then you really need further consideration about the health benefits or impacts of restricting certain foods. Are you going to get all the vitamins and minerals you need for a healthy body? Are there any impacts on your bone density when you diet (I’ve heard about research that says high protein diets make the blood more acidic and then this leaches calcium from your bones thereby reducing bone density). Whenever you embark on any diet you really need to consider the long-term impacts of how you eat, versus the obvious benefits of weight loss.
With that being said I thought I’d take a look at the latest craze in dieting…The “low Carb diet”.
The Heart Foundation of Australia released a Position Statement in April 2004 on Very Low Carbohydrate Diets. The following information has been taken directly from this position statement.
What is a very low carbohydrate diet?
The average carbohydrate intake in Australia and other Western countries is 200-300g per day or approximately 45% of total energy intake.
The literature has no clear definition of what a very low carbohydrate diet is. For the purposes of the position paper, the Heart Foundation defined ‘very low carbohydrate diets’ as containing less than 100g of carbohyrate per day. Very low carbohydrate diets may also be termed ‘high protein’ although not all high protein diets for weight loss can be called very low carbohydrate diets.
Generally in the early stages of most very low carbohydrate diets, elimination or severe restriction of carbohydrate is recommended (less than 10g of carbohydrate per day). The diets then contain a maintenance intake of only 40-50kg of carbohydrate per day.
Does the Heart Foundation recommend very low carbohydrate diets?
Based on current available research at the time, the Heart Foundation does not recommend very low carbohydrate diets for long-term weight loss. These types of diets often include foods high in saturated fat, can lack adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals and the long-term consequences of the diets are not known.
The Heart Foundation will continue to monitor the evidence in this area as it emerges.
Why does the Heart Foundation not recommend very low carbohydrate diets?
It is not clear whether very low carbohydrate diets are safe for long term health. These diets often recommend an eating pattern which is high in saturated fat. Saturated fat is the type of fat which raises blood cholesterol levels. To reduce your risk of heart disease, the Heart Foundation recommends you reduce your intake of foods high in saturated fats.
Very low carbohydrate diets are also often high in total fat and protein and low in plant based foods. Plant based foods such as fruit, vegetables and wholegrain cereals are the foods that help reduce the risk of heart disease. The dietary pattern recommended in very low carbohydrate diets is also often lacking some of the key nutrients required for overall good health, including folic acid, dietary fibre and calcium. As a high protein intake can lead to increased calcium loss, very low carbohydrate diets may increase the long-term risk of bone disease such as osteoporosis.
It is not clear what effect very low carbohydrate diets have on your risk of heart disease. Therefore, the Heart Foundation recommends that anyone attempting to lose weight by following a very low carbohydrate diet, should try to avoid foods high in saturated fat. The Heart Foundation also recommends that if you are attempting a very low carbohydrate diet, you should see your doctor to monitor heart disease risk factors such as blood cholesterol levels.
What does the Heart Foundation recommend to achieve weight loss?
It is possible to achieve a healthy weight that is right for you, without going for quick-fix solutions. Remember that weight loss and weight maintenance are not simple and require life-long changes. For heart health, the Heart Foundation recommends an eating pattern that is low in saturated fat, and does not exclude protective foods such as wholegrain cereals, fruit and vegetables.
The key to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is to enjoy healthy eating and regular physical activity. Healthy weight management is about balancing the kilojoules coming into your body through food and drinks with the kilojoules being used by your body through day-to-day activities as well as planned regular physical activity. For weight loss to occur, it is necessary to use up more kilojoules through physical activity than are consumed from food and drinks.
More Information
More information and practical tips on how to attain and maintain a healthy weight can be found in the following Heart Foundation publications:
- Healthy Weight Guide
- Position Statement on Very Low Carbohydrates Diets
- The Weight Loss Checklist
To order, please call Heartline, the Heart Foundation’s national telephone health information service, on 1300 36 27 87(local call cost). A range of information is also available at www.heartfoundation.com.au.”
Ultimately it is up to you to decide what works best for you. Pretty much if you remove a food group - you will lose weight. You need to weigh up the well known benefits of losing weight versus the possible health impacts of “Missing out” on necessary vitamins and minerals when on some diets. You should also take into consideration the following:
- If a diet has certain restrictions on it that make it unsafe for ‘pregnant women’… is it really good for you?
- It is a well known fact that people who “diet” often “yo-yo” to a weight higher than their pre-diet weight
- If you are willing to make all the weights, measurements and restrictions on foods for a diet, why aren’t you willing to just make incremental adjustments to your diet over months and years - each moving toward a healthier diet and make it a total lifestyle change with life-long results?
- Do you really want to be having to “go back onto the diet” every time you have gained weight or would you like to be the right weight all the time? In other words can you sustain the diet forever? Unless you change your eating habits, you will eventually end up back at the same weight or heavier.
At the end of the day, whatever choice you make is up to you….just be informed of the consequences.
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no matter how terrible people act, we don’t have a right to judge them. We are just to express our minds, and don’t have to pay attention what other people look like, what’s their real face. It doesn’t matter for me, if someone will say anything about me, I know what I really deserve, and what kind of person I really am.
[...] If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!This Post is an Add on to Liz’s Featured article about “Low Carb Diets” [...]