Low-carb diets may help with weight loss – but they may also increase the risk of heart disease, researchers warn today.
The research in Sweden may be the first evidence to support concerns expressed by experts about the so-called Atkins diet and similar low-carbohydrate diets.
The diets seem to help people lose weight by satisfying hunger with meat and other proteins. At one point headlines proclaimed that users could eat as much meat as they liked.
Now researchers in Sweden have found a small increase in cases of heart disease and stroke among women using the diet.
The findings come from a study of nearly 44,000 women who were aged between 30 and 49 at the outset and studied for 15 years. About 20 per cent of the women adhered to an extreme low-carbohydrate diet.
They show an increase of four to five extra cases of heart disease each year for every 10,000 women using the diet. This represents a 28 per cent increase in cases.
Reporting in the British Medical Journal, the researchers say the figures allow for possible factors such as women using the diet carrying more weight than others.
Researcher Pagona Lagiou, of the University of Athens Medical School, Greece, blames the increased risk on people using low-carb diets without taking into account the kind of protein they are eating or the kind of carbohydrate they are giving up.
Writing in the same journal, Anna Floegel from the German Institute of Human Nutrition and Tobias Pischon from the Max Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine, Germany, say different studies into low-carb diets have given different results.
They say these "need to be resolved before low carbohydrate-high protein diets can be safely recommended to patients."
And Victoria Taylor, of the British Heart Foundation, added: “This study highlights the need for us to achieve balance in our diets, rather than pitting nutrients against each other.
“Don’t feel you have to choose between carbohydrates or protein – a bit of both is better for your long term heart health. Eating a mixture of all food groups, rather than cutting anything out completely, will help you to stay healthy inside and out.
“Try and include lean proteins and low fat dairy, wholegrain and high fibre carbohydrates, along with lots of fruit and veg and small amounts of healthy fats in your diet."
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