If you’re trying to lose weight,
the answer's carbs. It turns out that reducing your carb intake is more
effective at spurring weight loss than reining in the fat, according to
new research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
For the study, researchers from Tulane University randomly
assigned 148 obese men and women without heart disease or diabetes to
follow a low-carbohydrate or low-fat diet.
After one year, participants who had been eating low-carb had lost 7.7
pounds more than those who had been eating less fat. Plus, they had
greater decreases in fat mass and other cardiovascular risk factors.
Before you start raiding your kitchen looking for carbs
to trash, it's important to note that, as far as this study is
concerned, low-carb really isn't all that low. In the study,
researchers suggested dieters only limit their intake of digestible
carbs to 40 grams per day (about as much as in four slices of whole
wheat bread) and told them they could eat as many grams of indigestible
carbohydrates, or fiber, as they wanted. And in the end, most of the
low-carb-eating participants in the study still ate more: They put away
75 to 85 grams of digestible carbs and about 15 grams of indigestible
carbs a day.
Not sure how many grams you're getting of each? Look on the
nutrition label. Then just subtract the number of grams of fiber from
the total carbohydrate count. That's how many grams of digestible carbs
the food packs.
Easier than counting carbs, though, is just paying attention
to where your carbs are coming from. "Carefully choosing your
carbohydrate sources is key," says lead study author, Lydia A. Bazzano,
M.D., Ph.D., a professor and nutrition researcher at Tulane University.
"If most of your carbohydrates are coming from whole vegetables and
whole fruits rather than white rice, potatoes, refined grains,
and beverages, then improved cardiovascular health and even weight loss
is likely to follow."
And while cutting your numbers of digestible carbs is
helpful, this study also shows that fat can actually aid in weight loss,
says Bazzano. Not only did the low-fat dieters lose less weight, but
low-carb study participants were actually encouraged to replace
digestible carbs with healthy fats—primarily from unsaturated
sources—and protein, both of which are known to reduce heart disease
risk factors like lipid profile and blood pressure. Article from Women's Health Mag
