Over the long term, a low-carb diet works mesos just as well as a low-fat diet at taking off the pounds — and it might be better for your heart, new research suggests.
Both
diets improved cholesterol in a two-year study that included intensive
group counseling. But those on the low-carbohydrate diet got a bigger
boost in their so-called good cholesterol, nearly twice as much as
those on low-fat.
In previous studies, low-carb diets have done
better at weight loss at six months, but longer-term results have been
mixed. And there's been a suggestion of better cholesterol from
low-carb eating.
The latest test is one of the longest to compare
the approaches. At the end of two years, average weight loss was the
same for both — about 15 pounds or 7 percent.
The key difference was
in HDL, or good cholesterol: a 23 percent increase from low-carb
dieting compared to a 12 percent improvement from low-fat, said Gary
Foster, director of Temple University's Center for wow gold Obesity Research and Education, who led the federally funded study.
He said the low-carb boost is the kind one might get from medicines that improve HDL.
"For a diet, that's pretty impressive," Foster said.
The
findings, published in Tuesday's Annals of Internal Medicine, are based
on a study of 307 adults, two-thirds of them women. Participants were
obese but didn't have cholesterol problems or diabetes.
Half
followed a low-carb diet modeled after the Atkins' plan and half went
on a low-calorie, low-fat diet. All attended group sessions to help
them change bad eating habits, get more active and stick to their diets.
The
volunteers had periodic checks of their weight, blood, bone density and
body composition. After two years, there was no major differences
between diet groups, except in good cholesterol. Why the low-carb diet
had a bigger effect on good cholesterol isn't known, the researchers
said.
As low-carb plans became popular, experts feared the diet
would drive up the risk of heart disease because it allows more fat.
The latest results suggest those concerns are unfounded, Foster said.
In the low-carb group, there was an early rise in "bad" cholesterol,
the kind that builds up in arteries. But after two years, both groups
ended up with similar improvements to bad cholesterol.
The study's
strengths include its size, length and its multiple locations — Denver,
Philadelphia and St. Louis, said Dr. William Yancy, of buy wow gold the Durham VA Medical Center in North Carolina.
"These
are results we should have a lot of confidence in," said Yancy, who has
done similar diet research but was not involved in the study.
Foster,
the study leader, said dieters should be less concerned about which
diet to use, and focus on finding the support or technique — like
writing down what they eat — that keeps them on track.
"It doesn't make a difference for weight loss how you get there," he said.
With the current obesity epidemic, more than one way is needed to attack the problem, Yancy said.
"Both of these are options. These cheap wow gold diets work," he said.
Post je objavljen 05.08.2010. u 04:23 sati.