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Researchers Say No to Low Carb and Keto Diets
The researchers concluded that low carbohydrate diets are unsafe and should therefore not be recommended to patients.
The results from new and pooled research on low carbohydrate diets were presented at the European Society of Cardiology’s 2018 Congress in August by researchers based in the UK, Poland, Sweden, and Greece. The findings are not good for those following low carb diets.
To carb or not to carb? That has been the question, and the source of several polite (and not-so-polite) conversations with friends, family, and random strangers online. And the answer, at least according to the study in question, is a resounding to carb!
The researchers concluded that low carbohydrate diets are unsafe and should therefore not be recommended to patients. There is a small subset of patients for whom low carb diets are likely beneficial, but physicians cannot in good faith recommend low carb diets to the average individual who is seeking to lose weight or maintain weight. Low carbohydrate diets can indeed be effective for weight loss, but they do not appear to be suitable — or safe — for the long-term.
And though ketogenic and other low carb diets have been popular for several decades, particularly with those looking to shed a few pounds, cutting carbs has remained controversial to doctors and health experts alike. At the peak of the low carb diet craze in the late 1990s and early 2000s, nearly 20 percent of the American population was estimated to be following a low carbohydrate diet of one form or another.
Previous studies have been in short supply, and those available have been inconclusive or incomplete. Regardless of the paucity of comprehensive research, several “health gurus”, nutritionists, dieticians, naturopaths, and even medical doctors around the world have spent a great deal of energy and time promoting ketogenic and low carbohydrate diets to the general public. Some have made their fortunes this way. The sheer number of books and articles written on the subject speaks to the popularity of the low carb movement.
The study we’re exploring today could mark the first in a series of critical blows about to hit the low carb and keto…
