- Low carbohydrate/high fat diets may help short-term weight loss but don't work long term, say researchers
- Controversial diet also found to increase blood cholesterol
By Claire Bates
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The popular Atkins diet could be putting people at increased risk of heart disease, according to a 25-year study.
Researchers from Sweden found the introduction of the low-carbohydrate regime led to a surge in saturated fat intake in 2004, with a spike in cholesterol levels three years later.
Study leader Professor Ingegerd Johansson, from the University of Umea, said: 'While low carbohydrate/high fat diets may help short-term weight loss, these results of this Swedish study demonstrate that long-term weight loss is not maintained and that this diet increases blood cholesterol, which has a major impact on risk of cardiovascular disease.'
Full English? A diet high in protein but low in carbohydrates can play havoc with cholesterol levels, say scientists
In 2004 there was an explosion in the popularity of low carbohydrate/high fat (LCHF) diets like Atkins in Sweden. The diets focus on cutting out sugar and starch while upping intake of fats, including saturated fat.
Its proponents, such as Dr Annika Dahlqvist, who is credited with starting the Swedish craze, argue that it helps maintain normal weight and blood sugar while freeing people to eat their favourite foods.
A poll last year suggested that a quarter of Swedes had at least partly adopted an LCHF diet. Around five per cent had taken it up seriously, leading the DietDoctor website to hail a "Swedish low carb revolution". There were even reports of stores running out of butter due to increasing demand.
The latest study was launched in 1986 after concerns about the high incidence of heart disease in northern Sweden.
Scientists analysed data on food and nutrient intake, body weight, height and cholesterol levels compiled from more than 140,000 measurements and questionnaires between 1986 and 2010.
The results showed an initial reduction in fat consumption and cholesterol levels throughout the 1990s. This coincided with the nationwide introduction of an education and food labelling programme aimed at improving diet and health. The Vasterbotten Intervention Programme (VIP) continues to this day.
After 2004, there was an unexpected change. Levels of total and saturated fat intake began to increase until they were higher than they were in 1986.
Blood cholesterol levels remained roughly unaltered between 2002 and 2007, but then showed a sharp rise.
In 2010 the average cholesterol level for men was around 5.5 millimoles per litre of blood, and for women slightly less. This was despite a significant increase in the number of people taking cholesterol-lowering drugs.
In earlier years, cholesterol levels had declined from a peak of more than six millimoles in 1986.
Over the whole 25-year period there was no sign that dieting of any kind helped people lose weight. Average body mass index (BMI), a measurement relating weight and height, showed a consistent rise in both men and women.
In their paper published in the Nutrition Journal, the researchers said the marked increase in cholesterol levels after 2007 was 'a deep concern'.
They added: 'After 2004 fat intake increased, especially saturated fat and butter-based spread for bread and butter for cooking.
'Supportive opinions in media for high-fat diets seem to have had an impact on consumer behaviours. Initially beneficial and thereafter deleterious changes in blood cholesterol paralle led these trends in food selection, whereas a claimed weight reduction by high-fat diets was not seen in the most recent years.
'In contrast, BMI increased continuously over the 25-year period. These changes in risk factors may have important effects on primary and secondary prevention of CVD (cardiovascular disease).'
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Why do people persist in thinking the Atkins diet is about fried breakfasts? Sausages generally contain cereal as a filler (carbohydrate). Beans are extremely high in carbohydrates, particularly in the form of sugar. Tomatoes are also high in carbohydrates. A 'proper' low-carb/high fat meal would be a steak fried in butter, served with a green salad with avocado and dressed with olive oil. The problem isn't with the diet, it's with people who think low-carb/high fat means they can eat as much of anything as they like as long as they don't have chips with it.
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Are the researchers just biased against low carb diets. High cholesterol levels increased 3 years after the so called "fad diet" was popular? They say there was "no sign dieting of any kind helped people lose weight" ? if they weren't losing weight they weren't dieting!. A low carb diet itself does not increase cholesterol it's when you stop following the diet. I have personal experience of this, you carry on eating high fat foods AND carbs. The researcher actually say "weight reduction was not seen in recent years". That's because they had stopped the diet or were only "partly adopting the LCHF diet. The diet doesn't work if you only partly adopt it. It's a pity the researchers haven't explained the real reasons for increased cholesterol and weight instead of just blaming the LCHF diet.
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As cholesterol is not harmful but essential, this article and the report on which it is based are fallacious. Zoe Harcombe, author of "The Obesity Epidemic", points out in her blog, "The most important thing that every human being needs to know about cholesterol is that it is as life vital as oxygen. We die instantly without it". It is now established that (1) blood cholesterol levels are not a reliable indicator for any health problems, except that very low blood cholesterol is linked to a higher risk of cancer; (2) the amount of cholesterol you eat has no relation to the amount in your blood, as every cell in the body continuously manufactures cholesterol. Rather than cholesterol itself, research has recently focused on the five types of lipoprotein (including LDL, HDL, and VLDL) which carry triglycerides, proteins, phospholipids and cholesterol around the body. It is distinctly possible that excessive carbohydrate intake upsets this delicate system.
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Tony uk you are incorrect. Your liver controls the amount of cholesterol in your blood, irrespective of the amount you consume in food
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Atkins is our natural diet, before we became farmers we had no bread, no bicuits, cakes, ceriels, etc. We ate meat, and a few berries. Some cholestrol is good for you, there is no point in just measuring all cholestrol. Take fish oil capsules, or eat oily fish, that is good cholesterol. What a silly study this is.
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Your liver controls the level of cholesterol in your blood. No matter whether or not the amount of cholesterol in your food is high or low your liver will maintain its correct level in your blood. The only way that you can have an excessive amount in your blood is if you suffer from a fairly rare congenital condition called hypercholesterolemia. If not, don’t worry. You can eat whatever food you like. These pseudo-scientists are just messing with your mind.
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The issue is not people prioritising protein over carbs, it's people using it as an excuse to eat fried food. Newsflash: if you eat a lot of the fried food pictured then you'll get higher cholesterol. Regardless of what 'diet' you're on.
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