Over 60 per cent of Canadians are overweight or obese and many try to lose weight with diets that severely limit the intake of carbohydrates. But new research suggests adopting a low-carb diet is associated with increased mortality.
The study conducted over 25 years shows that people who ate a high or low-carb diet had increased mortality and those who ate moderate amounts of carbohydrates had a lower risk.
Dietitian Andrea Miller says low-carb diets may lack important nutrients.
Low-carb diets ‘much lower in overall nutrition quality’
Registered dietitian Andrea Miller has other reasons for discouraging people from adopting a low-carb diet. “When we follow one of these low-carb diets…we’re eliminating all sources of whole grains, fruit and in many cases things like milk or milk alternatives and yogurt. All of these foods disappear. And what many people don’t understand is that when you eliminate these sources of carbohydrate, they’re also eliminating the nutrients that these foods come packaged with. So, their diet ends up much lower overall in nutrition quality.”
Food guides in Canada and the United States show the ideal plate of food should be one-quarter filled with carbohydrates. (iStock)
Easy way to gauge carbs recommended
Miller says an easy way for people to gauge the right amount of carbohydrates to eat is to use a plate as a guide. The Canadian government’s food guide recommends half the plate be filled with fruit and vegetables, one quarter with protein, and one quarter with grains, and on the side there should be a serving of milk or alternative.
Low-carb diets tend to not work
Miller says another reason people should avoid low-carb diets is that they usually don’t work as a weight-loss strategy. She says they are difficult to maintain and people often put on more weight after they go off low-carb diets. She recommends against using diets in general, but says adopting a sustainable change is far more likely to succeed.
Change must be sustainable, says dietitian
“Food is very complex, weight is very complex and I think we need to look at this individually,” says Miller. She suggests people see a registered dietitian “to look at what they’re eating now and their pattern of eating now and see if it potentially can be tweaked, adjusted, etc. to make sure you’re meeting nutritional requirements and find a pattern of eating that works for you that’s sustainable…a lifestyle pattern that is healthy, enjoyable, and allows you to eat socially and fits your budget.”
Protein sources made a difference
The study published in The Lancet suggests that low-carb dietary patterns that favoured protein and fat from animals were associated with higher mortality, whereas those that favoured plant-derived protein and fat from other sources were associated with lower mortality. Those proteins came from sources such as vegetable, nuts, peanut butter and whole-grain breads.
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