Low-carbohydrate diet effective for adults

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Low-carbohydrate diet effective for adults

J Fam Pract. 2003 July;52(7):512-525

By

Daniel F. McCarter, MD

BACKGROUND: The incidence of obesity and obesity-related illnesses continues to rise in the United States, along with the costs of caring for these conditions. No approaches for weight loss have proven effective for the long term.
POPULATION STUDIED: Fifty-three moderately obese (body-mass index 30–35) adult women were randomized between May 2000 and January 2001 at the University of Cincinnati. The group included 13 African American and 30 Caucasian women who had a stable weight for at least 6 months. Subjects were excluded if they had atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism, substance abuse, pregnancy, or current lactation.
STUDY DESIGN AND VALIDITY: Subjects were assigned to a very-low-carbohydrate diet with ad libitum calories or to a low-fat, restricted-calorie diet for 6 months. The low-carbohydrate diet was restricted to <20 g of carbohydrate per day for the first 2 weeks and 40–60 g/d for the remainder of the study. The low-fat diet consisted of 55% carbohydrate, 15% protein, and 30% fat, with caloric prescriptions based on body size using the Harris-Benedict equations.
OUTCOMES MEASURED: Primary outcomes were weight loss and LDL cholesterol level. Other outcomes included body-fat analysis, lean body mass, blood pressure, total caloric intake, bone density, and various metabolic markers including other lipid levels, and insulin.
RESULTS: Patients using the very-low-carbohydrate diet showed significantly greater weight loss than the low-fat diet group at 3 months—7.6 kg (95% confidence interval [CI], 7.5–9.5) vs 4.2 kg (95% CI, 3.4–5.0), and at 6 months—8.5 kg (95% CI, 7.5–9.5) vs 3.9 kg (95% CI, 2.9–4.9). The low-carbohydrate group lost more fat mass and lean body mass than did the low-fat group.

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Low-carbohydrate diet effective for adults

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