Low-Carb, High Meat Diet has High risks

Consumers eating low carbodydrate diets based on meat are at much greater risk of all-cause mortality than those on diets based on low carbs with more fruits and vegetables.

Comparing the health effects of the two diets over more than two decades, researchers from Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Singapore found consumption of a low-carbohydrate, vegetable-based plan resulted in reduced rates of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer, and a lower rate of all-cause death overall, whereas animal-based low-carbohydrates diet were associated with a higher risk for overall mortality.

"You can have the initial Atkins-type of low-carb diet, which is loaded with sausages, bacon, steaks, and you can have a healty versions of low-carb diet with more vegetable or plant-based protein and fat," said Dr Frank Hu, lead author of the study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

"We looked at these two versions of low-carb diets and found that the impact of the two are drastically different," he added.

A direct association was observed between an animal based, low-carbohydrate diet and colorectal cancer death.

"Those who follow the animal-based low-carb diet have a increased risk of total mortality and cancer mortality in particular," noted Hu.