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 For the last decade, low-carb diets have been all the rage.
Dieters have flocked to the idea of obtaining drastic and immediate weight loss—a quick fix—without having to sacrifice fatty foods like steak, bacon and cheese.
Yet during this surge in popularity, medical and nutrition experts have sounded warnings about the potential health risks associated with the radical form of low-carb dieting.
Current research supports the old age, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
An August 2009 study published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences links low-carb diets to cardiovascular disease in mice.
The study, conducted by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, part of Harvard Medical School, found that low-carb diets based on proteins, such as fish, meat and cheese, caused damage to the arteries.
Researchers recorded the effects of three different diets on mice. While the mice on low-carb diets gained less weight, they also developed 15 percent more atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is the building up of fatty plaque in the arteries that is associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
Because low-carb diets are many times also high in fat (without carbohydrates, food options outside of meats are minimal), they bring with them the normal risk associated with the consumption of high-fat foods. High cholesterol, which is linked to increased risk of heart attack, is one of the many potentially deleterious side effects.
Protein-heavy foods can also be difficult to digest, which means that low-carb dieters put undue stress on the kidneys through their role in the digestive process.
Aside from these risks, low-carb dieters do not receive the nutritional value derived from enriched grains like cereal and noodles. Noodles and cereal are both excellent sources of folic acid, a nutrient that helps lower the risk of neural tube defects (in embryo/fetuses) and may help lower the risk of heart attack.
Besides being a good source of complex carbohydrates, which are the body’s main source of energy, noodles are also a good source of iron.
Health and nutrition experts, in fact, recommend that 55% to 60% or more of the calories consumed should come from carbohydrates, with an emphasis on complex carbohydrates from foods like noodles.
While low-carb diets bring with them the promise of quick weight loss, current medical research suggests that low-carb diets also bring with them many potentially harmful and long-lasting side effects. |
