Q:
Dear ER Doc,
I have been hearing about the low carb diet lately and am thinking about trying it out. Â Is this just another fad diet or is there some science behind it? Â I need to lose about 50 pounds.
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Lisa, Fresno CA
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A:
Lisa, there certainly are a lot of fad diets out there that don’t have any scientific basis, but low carbohydrate diets are not among them. Â Recently, a study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine which compared 3 diets against each other–a traditional low fat diet, a Mediterranean diet, and a low carbohydrate diet. Â The low carbohydrate diet was based on the “Atkins diet” which has been in use for many years. Â In this study, the low carbohydrate diet compared very favorably to the other diets, both in total weight loss and improvement in cholesterol profiles, despite the fact that calories were not restricted in this group. Â There were some limitations to the study, and further research will be required (as usual), but overall, this is helpful information. Â If you are interested in pursuing this option, I urge you to speak to your physician and get more information regarding both diet, and exercise. Â I applaud your desire to make healthy changes, which include weight loss, and I’m sure it will lessen your chance of visiting me in the ER!
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Hi, ER Doc.
The study to which your refer followed dieters for 24 months. Here are the weight loss averages for the people who completed the study:
Low-fat group: 7.3 pounds
Mediterranean group: 10.1 pounds
Low-carb (Atkins) group: 12.1 pounds
The highest percentage of drop-outs was in the low-fat group: 22%.
The Atkins diet had been considered a fad diet in the past, but it probably isn’t anymore.
Overall, the Mediterranean diet is the healthiest of the three discussed.
For anyone interested, I analyzed the study comprehensively at my healthy lifestyle blog:
http://advancedmediterraneandiet.com/blog/?p=56
-Steve