Comment by Peter Kelly ND: This
study shows the danger of traditional weight loss techniques
based on low fat and high carbohydrate diet. There is more to
weight loss than just losing weight. The effect on cholesterol
and triglycerides is an important factor in long term health and
avoiding development of cardiovascular disease. Triglycerides
need to be kept to a minimum and HDL (the good cholesterol) needs
to be not too low. Risk decreases as LDL particles increase in
size. The low carbohydrate type diets like Ultra Lite are
effective in reducing cardiovascular risk. Note that the Ultra
Lite Weight Management plan is not just a short term weight loss
program, but a life long health and weight management plan.
Effect of a low-glycaemic
index--low-fat--high protein diet on the atherogenic metabolic
risk profile of abdominally obese men.
British Journal of
Nutrition 2001 Nov;86(5):557-68
Comment in:
Br J Nutr. 2002 Aug;88(2):211-2; discussion 213-4.
Dumesnil
JG, Turgeon J, Tremblay A, Poirier P, Gilbert M, Gagnon L, St-Pierre
S, Garneau C, Lemieux I, Pascot A, Bergeron J, Despres JP.
Quebec Heart Institute, Laval Hospital Research Center, Quebec,
Canada. medjgd@hermes.ulaval.ca
It has been suggested that the
current dietary recommendations (low-fat-high-carbohydrate diet)
may promote the intake of sugar and highly refined starches which
could have adverse effects on the metabolic risk profile. We have
investigated the short-term (6-d) nutritional and metabolic
effects of an ad libitum low-glycaemic index-low-fat-high-protein
diet (prepared according to the Montignac method) compared with
the American Heart Association (AHA) phase I diet consumed ad
libitum as well as with a pair-fed session consisting of the same
daily energy intake as the former but with the same macronutrient
composition as the AHA phase I diet. Twelve overweight men (BMI
33.0 (sd 3.5) kg/m2) without other diseases were involved in
three experimental conditions with a minimal washout period of 2
weeks separating each intervention. By protocol design, the first
two conditions were administered randomly whereas the pair-fed
session had to be administered last. During the ad libitum version of the AHA
diet, subjects consumed 11695.0 (sd 1163.0) kJ/d and this diet
induced a 28 % increase
in plasma triacylglycerol levels (1.77 (sd 0.79) v. 2.27 (sd 0.92) mmol/l,
P<0.05) and a 10
% reduction in plasma HDL-cholesterol concentrations (0.92 (sd 0.16) v. 0.83 (sd 0.09) mmol/l,
P<0.01) which contributed to a significant increase in
cholesterol:HDL-cholesterol ratio (P<0.05), this lipid index
being commonly used to assess the risk of coronary heart disease.
In contrast, the low-glycaemic index-low-fat-high-protein diet
consumed ad libitum resulted in a spontaneous 25 % decrease (P<0.001)
in total energy intake which averaged 8815.0 (sd 738.0) kJ/d.
As opposed to the AHA diet, the
low-glycaemic index-low-fat-high-protein diet produced a
substantial decrease (-35 %) in plasma triacylglycerol levels (2.00 (sd 0.83) v. 1.31 (sd 0.38) mmol/l,
P<0.0005), a
significant increase (+1.6 %) in LDL peak particle diameter (251 (sd 5) v. 255 (sd 5) A, P<0.02)
and marked decreases in plasma insulin levels measured either in
the fasting state, over daytime and following a 75 g oral glucose
load. During the pair-fed session, in which subjects were exposed
to a diet with the same macronutrient composition as the AHA diet
but restricted to the same energy intake as during the low-glycaemic
index-low-fat-high-protein diet, there was a trend for a decrease
in plasma HDL-cholesterol levels which contributed to the
significant increase in cholesterol:HDL-cholesterol ratio noted
with this condition. Furthermore, a marked increase in hunger (P<0.0002)
and a significant decrease in satiety (P<0.007) were also
noted with this energy-restricted diet. Finally, favourable
changes in the metabolic risk profile noted with the ad libitum
consumption of the low-glycaemic index-low-fat-high-protein diet
(decreases in triacyglycerols, lack of increase in cholesterol:HDL-cholesterol
ratio, increase in LDL particle size) were significantly
different from the response of these variables to the AHA phase I
diet. Thus,
a low-glycaemic index-low-fat-high-protein content diet may have unique
beneficial effects compared with the conventional AHA diet for the treatment of
the atherogenic metabolic risk profile of abdominally obese patients.
However, the present study was a short-term intervention and
additional trials are clearly needed to document the long-term
efficacy of this dietary approach with regard to compliance and
effects on the metabolic risk profile.
PMID: 11737954 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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