High carbs for weight loss?
controversy linked to the efficacy of the regime looks set to
continue with new evidence suggesting the precise opposite - a high
carbohydrate, low fat diet - is 'better than counting the
calories'.
Publishing their findings in this week's issue of Archives of Internal Medicine (164:210-217), researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in the US say they found that a high carbohydrate diet consumed at will, with no attempt at energy restriction or change in energy intake, can result in the loss of body weight and body fat in older men and women.
The scientists examined the effect of a 12-week low-fat, high-complex carbohydrate diet alone and in combination with aerobic exercise training on body weight and composition in 34 men and women with impaired glucose tolerance and an average age of 66.
Participants were randomly assigned different diets. The control diet (41 per cent fat, 14 per cent protein, 45 per cent carbohydrate and 7g of fibre per 1000 kcal) included foods such as sausage, scrambled eggs, macaroni and cheese, french fries, whole milk and some fruits and vegetables.
The high complex-carbohydrate diet (18 per cent fat, 19 per cent protein, 63 per cent carbohydrates and 26 g of fibre per 1000 kcal) included high-fibre cereal, vegetarian chilli, whole-wheat spaghetti, skimmed milk, and fruits and vegetables.
The third was a high-complex carbohydrate diet plus endurance exercise four days a week, 45 minutes per day at 80 per cent peak oxygen consumption. The researchers provided the participants with 150 per cent of estimated energy needs and instructed them to consume food at will. Total food intake, body composition, resting metabolic rate, and substrate oxidation were measured.
The researchers conclude that despite the fact there was no significant difference in total food intake among the three groups and no change in energy intake over time, the high-carbohydrate diet participants, with and without exercise, lost more body weight and a higher percentage of body fat than the controls.
With an estimated 59 million Americans hooked on the Atkins diet, mainstream supermarket shelves are now heavy with the weight of low-carb alternatives supplied by food and drink manufacturers eager to cash in on the popularity of the 30-year-old regime. The UK is also showing signs of Atkins fever (a recent survey suggested that around 3 million people have given it a whirl) but elsewhere in Europe consumers have been reticent.
