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Ehkä tämän hetken kovin "kiista" terveysrintamalla on hiilihydraattien rajoittaminen. Lisää vettä myllyyn paiskaa Nutrition Research -tiedelehti heittämällä ulos muutaman uuden paprun. Alla tiivistelmät.

Nutr Res. 2008 Dec;28(12):825-33.

Long-term consumption of a carbohydrate-restricted diet does not induce deleterious metabolic effects.

Grieb P, Kłapcińska B, Smol E, Pilis T, Pilis W, Sadowska-Krepa E, Sobczak A, Bartoszewicz Z, Nauman J, Stańczak K, Langfort J.

Department of Experimental Pharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences Medical Research Center in Warsaw, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland.

Carbohydrate (CHO)-restricted diets have been recommended for weight loss and to prevent obesity, but their long-term effects have not been fully elucidated. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of long-term (>1 year) consumption of a low-CHO high-fat diet ("The optimal diet," developed by Dr Kwaśniewski referenced herein) on lipid profile, glycemic control, and cardiovascular disease risk factors in healthy subjects. Of 31 "optimal" dieters enrolled in the study (17 women and 14 men, aged 51.7 +/- 16.6 years), 22 declared adherence to the diet for more than 3 years. Average energy intake and principal nutrients consumed were assessed from 6-day dietary records provided by the participants. In most dieters, concentrations of beta-hydroxybutyrate, free fatty acids, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol exceeded the upper limits of the reference ranges for nonstarved subjects. The metabolic profiles of most subjects were positive for several indicators, including relatively low concentrations of triacylglycerols, high levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and normal ratios of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol/HDL-C and total cholesterol/HDL-C. In most subjects, plasma concentrations of glucose, insulin, glucagon, cortisol, homocysteine, glycerol, and C-reactive protein were within reference ranges. Notably, in all but one subject, the homeostasis model assessment index of insulin resistance remained below the threshold for diagnosis of insulin resistance. These results indicate that long-term (>1 year) compliance with a low-CHO high-fat "optimal diet" does not induce deleterious metabolic effects and does not increase the risk for cardiovascular disease, as evidenced by maintenance of adequate glycemic control and relatively low values for conventional cardiovascular risk factors.


Nutr Res. 2008 Jul;28(7):443-9.

Short-term changes in lipoprotein subclasses and C-reactive protein levels of hypertriglyceridemic adults on low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets.

Stoernell CK, Tangney CC, Rockway SW.
Country Villa Health Services, Arcadia, CA 90017, USA; Department of Clinical Nutrition, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.

Diets designed to promote weight loss and improve atherogenic lipid profiles traditionally include a reduction in total fat and, in particular, saturated fats. This study was designed to test the efficacy of a low-fat diet vs a carbohydrate (CHO)-restricted (low-CHO) diet in hypertriglyceridemic patients on lipid profile, weight loss, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and satiety. Twenty-eight hypertriglyceridemic subjects (based on fasting triacylglycerol [TG] levels exceeding 1.69 mmol/L) were randomized to either the low-CHO or low-fat diet for 8 weeks. Fasting bloods were acquired at weeks 0 and 8 and analyzed for lipids and hs-CRP. Body weight and other anthropometric measures were also obtained. Three random 24-hour food recalls were used to assess compliance during the trial and 2 recalls before randomization to permit individualized dietary education. A significant time-by-treatment interaction was observed (P = .045), wherein the small low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations were reduced by 46% in the low-CHO-assigned subjects and increased by 36% for those assigned the low-fat plan. The observed decrease in TG (18%) among low-CHO subjects, in contrast to the 4% increase for low-fat group, was not significant, nor were there significant differences in hs-CRP, overall dietary compliance, satiety, or the magnitude of body weight loss between groups (low-CHO group, -3.8% vs low-fat group, -1.6%). Favorable reductions in small low-density lipoprotein concentrations after 8 weeks suggest that a moderately restricted carbohydrate diet (20% CHO as energy) can promote a less atherogenic lipid profile when compared to the low-fat diet.


Nutr Res. 2008 Jan;28(1):6-12.

The least-cost low-carbohydrate diet is expensive.

Raffensperger JF.
Department of Management, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand.

This article describes the use of operations research methods to study the minimum possible cost of a low-carbohydrate diet. The study compares this cost to the minimum cost of a diet with no limitation on carbohydrate. The rationale for this study is the popularity of the low-carbohydrate diets and their perceived high cost. The method used was an operations research approach to find a set of least cost diets, varying the required carbohydrate. This method was chosen to avoid potential concerns with real diets that may be nutritionally deficient or could be had for a lower cost. The major finding is that the cheapest possible low-carbohydrate diet costs about triple the cost of the cheapest diet with no constraint on carbohydrate. Furthermore, the minimum cost of a diet low in both carbohydrate and fat is 5 to 10 times the cost of the cheapest diet, depending on the relative amounts of these nutrients. As carbohydrate and fat are constrained, cost increases dramatically and nonlinearly. The study identifies which nutrients had the greatest effect on cost for a low-carbohydrate and low-fat diet.