Demi
Fri, Oct-12-07, 06:46
Dr Briffa's latest blog entry:
Lower carb diet found to benefit individuals with metabolic syndrome
Posted By Dr John Briffa On 12th October 2007 ~ 12:23
On Wednesday my blog focused on a recently published study which found eating a diet which tends to induce surges of blood sugar and insulin is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. These studies add to the already voluminous evidence which supports the concept of controlling carbs, but such research is not a powerful as so-called intervention studies, in which individuals are subjected to different treatments of approaches to see which, if any, have most benefit.
As it happens, the edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition which contains the breast cancer study I featured on Wednesday also contains an interesting intervention study. Its focus is not breast cancer, but the condition metabolic syndrome. This condition is characterised by a features such as excess weight around the middle of the body (abdominal obesity), and a tendency to raised blood pressure and raised levels of sugar and blood fats known as triglycerides.
In this study, 100 adults officially classified as obese (body mass index in excess of 30) and with a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome were allocated to eat one or two diets for a period of 5 months.
One of the diet contained 65 per cent carbohydrate, with 13 per cent protein and 17 per cent fat. The other diet contained 48 per cent carb, with 19 and 33 per cent of the diet coming from protein and fat respectively. Total calorie intake was the same.
At the end of the study measurements such as weight and waist circumference did not differ between the groups. However, both blood pressure and blood levels of triglycerides were significantly lower in the group eating the lower carbohydrate diet.
I say ‘lower’ carbohydrate diet, though the authors of this study class this actually as ‘low carbohydrate’. My personal view is that getting almost half of one’s calories from carbohydrate still represents a relatively high carbohydrate diet. Also, this study does not detail the form that the carbohydrate took within the two diets. It is possible that even those individuals on the lower carbohydrate diet were eating a glut of foods disruptive to blood sugar and insulin levels that have the capacity to ‘feed’ metabolic syndrome.
Despite not having access to the details of the diets used in this study, it is notable that the lower carbohydrate diet brought about what would generally be regarded as greater improvement in markers of health and disease risk (i.e. blood pressure and triglyceride levels). The likelihood is that pulling back more on carb intake, particularly those of high GI/GL, would have even more benefits for individuals. There is evidence, for instance, more stringent carb control can pay dividends for those seeking to shed pounds [2].
References:
1. Muzio F, et al. Effects of moderate variations in the macronutrient content of the diet on cardiovascular disease risk factors in obese patients with the metabolic syndrome. Am J Clin Nutr 2007 86: 946-951
2. More evidence that lower-carb is the way to go (http://www.drbriffa.com/blog/2007/07/06/more-evidence-that-lower-carb-is-the-way-to-go/) (Blog post of 6th July 2007).
http://www.drbriffa.com/blog/2007/10/12/lower-carb-diet-found-to-benefit-individuals-with-metabolic-syndrome/
Lower carb diet found to benefit individuals with metabolic syndrome
Posted By Dr John Briffa On 12th October 2007 ~ 12:23
On Wednesday my blog focused on a recently published study which found eating a diet which tends to induce surges of blood sugar and insulin is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. These studies add to the already voluminous evidence which supports the concept of controlling carbs, but such research is not a powerful as so-called intervention studies, in which individuals are subjected to different treatments of approaches to see which, if any, have most benefit.
As it happens, the edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition which contains the breast cancer study I featured on Wednesday also contains an interesting intervention study. Its focus is not breast cancer, but the condition metabolic syndrome. This condition is characterised by a features such as excess weight around the middle of the body (abdominal obesity), and a tendency to raised blood pressure and raised levels of sugar and blood fats known as triglycerides.
In this study, 100 adults officially classified as obese (body mass index in excess of 30) and with a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome were allocated to eat one or two diets for a period of 5 months.
One of the diet contained 65 per cent carbohydrate, with 13 per cent protein and 17 per cent fat. The other diet contained 48 per cent carb, with 19 and 33 per cent of the diet coming from protein and fat respectively. Total calorie intake was the same.
At the end of the study measurements such as weight and waist circumference did not differ between the groups. However, both blood pressure and blood levels of triglycerides were significantly lower in the group eating the lower carbohydrate diet.
I say ‘lower’ carbohydrate diet, though the authors of this study class this actually as ‘low carbohydrate’. My personal view is that getting almost half of one’s calories from carbohydrate still represents a relatively high carbohydrate diet. Also, this study does not detail the form that the carbohydrate took within the two diets. It is possible that even those individuals on the lower carbohydrate diet were eating a glut of foods disruptive to blood sugar and insulin levels that have the capacity to ‘feed’ metabolic syndrome.
Despite not having access to the details of the diets used in this study, it is notable that the lower carbohydrate diet brought about what would generally be regarded as greater improvement in markers of health and disease risk (i.e. blood pressure and triglyceride levels). The likelihood is that pulling back more on carb intake, particularly those of high GI/GL, would have even more benefits for individuals. There is evidence, for instance, more stringent carb control can pay dividends for those seeking to shed pounds [2].
References:
1. Muzio F, et al. Effects of moderate variations in the macronutrient content of the diet on cardiovascular disease risk factors in obese patients with the metabolic syndrome. Am J Clin Nutr 2007 86: 946-951
2. More evidence that lower-carb is the way to go (http://www.drbriffa.com/blog/2007/07/06/more-evidence-that-lower-carb-is-the-way-to-go/) (Blog post of 6th July 2007).
http://www.drbriffa.com/blog/2007/10/12/lower-carb-diet-found-to-benefit-individuals-with-metabolic-syndrome/