The interest in low-carbohydrate diets is on the rise, with their popularity doubling among US consumers in the last ten years. Despite this, there’s still a lot of confusion about what exactly a low-carb diet is.
A comprehensive review in the journal Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition has started to clear up this confusion.
It looked at over 500 clinical trials, most of which were randomized controlled trials, from the past twenty years. These studies often defined a low-carb diet as either getting 30% or less of total calories from carbohydrates or eating under 100 grams of carbs each day.
Dr. Taylor Wallace, the main researcher, was surprised by the large number of clinical trials on low-carb diets. He pointed out that this goes against the idea that there’s not enough scientific evidence on low-carb eating.
This evidence is often left out of major US dietary guidelines, like the Dietary Reference Intake and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. These guidelines are important because they influence things like food labels, government nutrition programs, and health education.
A lot of these studies were looking at how low-carb diets affect weight and body composition. Wallace notes that even though these studies focus on weight, they’re often not included in the guidelines that shape US dietary advice. This is a big deal, especially considering the high rates of overweight and obesity in the country.
However, the review also found some inconsistencies in the studies. When defining a low-carb diet by the percentage of calories from carbs, the range varied from zero to 50%. And for studies that used a specific gram amount, many set the limit below 100 grams a day.
Wallace emphasizes that it’s crucial to have a clear and agreed-upon definition of what a low-carb diet is, especially with both the public and health officials wanting to understand its benefits. The next steps, he suggests, are systematic reviews and detailed analyses that look at how different levels of carb intake relate to health markers and outcomes.
In summary, this review has started to provide some much-needed clarity on what low-carb diets really mean. It shows there’s a lot of research out there, but also highlights the need for a standardized definition to guide public health and nutrition advice.
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The research findings can be found in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition.
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