SAVING YOUR HEART: CONSUMING CARBOHYDRATE
A study published in the Annuals of Internal Medicine compared the effect on weight loss and hyperlipidaemia (elevated blood fats) of a low carbohydrate ketogenic diet and a low fat diet. A ketogenic diet is where carbohydrate intake is severely restricted to between 20 and 40 grams per day; this means the diet is mainly composed of lean meat, fish, chicken and eggs, with small amounts of salad vegetables. In this study participants on the low carbohydrate diet kept carbohydrate intake to less than 20 grams per day; the low fat group kept fat intake to below 30% of calories, (this equates to less than 67 grams of fat per day for the average person who consumes 2000 calories per day). The low fat diet group had to eat less than 300mg of cholesterol daily, and both groups participated in exercise.
The results showed that a greater number of people in the low carbohydrate group stuck with the diet than people in the low fat group (76%o versus 57%). After 24 weeks, weight loss was greater in the low carbohydrate group than the low fat group (average weight loss of 12.9% versus 6.7% of body weight). The interesting point is that triglycerides came down by 0.84mmol/L in the low carbohydrate group, and only 0.31mmol/L in the low fat group, and HDL cholesterol increased by an average of 0.14mmol/L in the low carbohydrate group, and actually decreased by 0.04mmol/L in the low fat group.
In basic terms, triglycerides decreased more, and HDL increased more in the low carbohydrate group compared to the low fat group. The low carbohydrate diet used here was quite extreme; it is not necessary to lower carbohydrate intake so severely to obtain good results. Another study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association compared a low glycaemic diet with a low fat diet. In the study 39 overweight or obese patients between the ages of 18 and 40 participated. Weight loss results were similar in this study; however participants in the low glycaemic group experienced less hunger, less insulin resistance, lower triglycerides, lower C-reactive protein and lower blood pressure than those on the low fat diet. Clearly lowering the amount of carbohydrate you eat can help you to feel less hungry, lose weight and improve your blood fats.
The effect carbohydrates have on liver function
Eating more carbohydrate than we need results in its storage as body fat. The liver is the main fat metabolizing organ in the body, and excess carbohydrates are converted into fat in the liver; you will remember that most cholesterol in our body is manufactured in the liver. Over time, a high carbohydrate diet clogs our liver with fat and we can develop what is known as fatty liver disease; also known as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. This is an extremely common condition, and affects an average of 20 percent of the population. Most people do not develop a fatty liver because they eat too much fat, they get it from eating too much sugar, bread, pasta, cereals, soft drinks, and other foods high in sugar which their liver turns into fat. Hydrogenated vegetable oil, which contains trans fatty acids also contributes to the development of fatty liver.
When we develop a fatty liver, it often causes us to have raised liver enzymes; this indicates that there is inflammation occurring in our liver. C-reactive protein is manufactured in the liver in response to inflammation, and it promotes further inflammation in the rest of our body, including our artery walls.
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