Researchers use mutant mice genetically engineered to be susceptible to heart disease to 'prove' carbohydrate restri

Metabolism Society Press Release

As human studies continue to show the benefits of low carbohydrate diets and the general failure of low-fat diets, it is necessary for the nutritional establishment to find more and more obscure methods of attacking dietary carbohydrate restriction.

One method is to prepare mutant animal models, to use odd diet that humans would never consume, call them low carbohydrate diets and then show some deficit. Because mice are not generally susceptible to atherosclerosis, it was necessary for Foo and coworkers to use an ApoE-/- mutant and a ridiculously high protein diet to vilify low carbohydrate diets which have been a useful alternative for many people suffering from obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

In keeping with the traditions in scientific of research, the authors do not cite the numerous studies showing benefit of low carbohydrate diets compared to the low fat diet that has been in place during the obesity and diabetes epidemic. That the NIH and other government agencies continue to fund this kind of biased research is probably a minor political problem in health care but should still be of concern to people who are confused about what their diet should be.

According to Dr. Richard D. Feinman, Biochemistry Professor at Downstate Medical Center in NY, "It is a mistake to consider one experiment in a mouse mutant over riding the scientific literature where similar research trials on actual human beings clearly show benefit of carbohydrate restriction for all markers of metabolic syndrome. For some reason these studies are not the ones picked up by the media. I suppose actual advances in science aren't s hot topics for headline news stories when it concerns the proven benefits of carbohydrate restriction."

Volek JS, Ballard KD, Silvestre R, Judelson DA, Quann EE, Forsythe CE, Fernandez ML, Kraemer WJ: Effects of dietary carbohydrate restriction vs low-fat diet on flow-mediated dilation. Metabolism 2009.

Volek JS, Phinney SD, Forsythe CE, Quann EE, Wood RJ, Puglisi MJ, Kraemer WJ, Bibus DM, Fernandez ML, Feinman RD: Carbohydrate restriction has a more favorable impact on the metabolic syndrome than a low fat diet. Lipids 2009, 44(4):297-309.

About the Metabolism Society
The Metabolism Society is a 501(c)3 nonprofit health organization providing research, information and education in the application of fundamental science to nutrition. The Society is particularly dedicated to the incorporation of biochemical metabolism to problems of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
To fulfill this mission, the Metabolism Society hosts research conferences, publishes scientific findings, provides educational information and publishes an open-access on-line journal Nutrition and Metabolism. In association with the American Society of Bariatric Physicians, the Metabolism Society hosts scientific conferences on the nutritional and biochemical aspects of carbohydrate restriction.
While not advocating any specific dietary strategy, the Society believes that the therapeutic potential of low-carbohydrate diets for the treatment of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease is under-investigated and under-utilized.