According to the different diets, scientists made sure subjects maintained the same weight so they could measure their metabolisms.
All calories are not alike to the body, said Ludwig and his team. He says, “Restricting carbohydrates makes for a better strategy than restricting calories for maintaining weight loss”.
The Relationship among Insulin, Carb Intake, and Weight Gain
Pancreas produced Insulin which is a hormone and it helps blood sugar levels to keep steady. Insulin plays a great role in weight gain if a person eats too many carbs, says Ludwig. After eating processed carbs, for example, cookies, cake, or white bread, your insulin levels spike. Furthermore, insulin traps more calories in your fat cells. This will cause weight gain. And what happened next? You remain hungry as rest of the body still needs calories. This cascade of events makes you to eat more and more and slow your metabolism system.
Ludwig says that study participants who had been producing the most insulin (the high insulin secretors) saw the biggest effect on the low-carb diet. The participants’ bodies worked in overdrive to produce insulin on their normal diets leading to extra stored calories and a slower metabolism. More than 400 calories per day can be burned on the low-carb diet instead of high-carb diet.
The Health Benefits of a Low-Carb Diet for People With Diabetes
Although this study didn’t examine diabetes, the researchers found that high insulin secretory may benefit the most from the low-carb and high-fat diet.
Jan Rystrom, MD, a registered dietitian and diabetes educator at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, who was not involved in the study, says,
“We have found that the low-carb approach works with diabetes patients who have insulin resistance.”
To normalize blood glucose, excess insulin production is needed by following a high-carbohydrate meal. For weight loss or for the person who has some metabolic disorder including diabetes patient, a low-carb approach is effective.
For a diabetic person, a low-carb diet cannot allow glucose to get into the cells properly. The hormone insulin normally acts to unlock the cells so the cells can use the glucose. For a diabetic person, when too much glucose remains in the blood, it can cause serious health conditions. Hyperglycemia (excess of glucose in the blood) should be under controlled to avoid complicated health conditions. Previous studies show that low-carb diets can improve blood sugar levels.
Why More Research Is Needed on the Effects of a Low-Carb Diet for People without Diabetes
With diabetes, a low carb diet plan is very effective. But, Kelly Kennedy, RD, a dietitian said that there must be a detailed study required to know how an overweight person without any disease can get benefits with a low-carb diet.
Kennedy says that the results of this study are interesting. He said that “For those looking to lose weight, though, I’d advise to take these results with a grain of salt.”
Sticking to a low-carb diet for long-term can be challenging. The participants in the current study had the benefit of close medical supervision that helped them adhere to their assigned diet.
It is also not known what health effects may occur from being on a low-carb diet for the long haul. It has been found in the current study that participants with low-carb diet had lower levels of leptin. Leptin is a hormone that inhibits hunger. Having lower levels of it could potentially lead to an increase in hunger in the low-carb group, and increased calorie intake, says Kennedy.
Taking too much saturated fat can possibly another risk of going low-carb diet. According to a study published in November 2016 in the Journal BMJ, low-carb diet can increase the risk of heart disease. Kennedy says, the current study shows that 35% of the participants’ fat came from saturated fats, and 15% of the carbs came from unhealthy added sugar. He further added, “In the low-carb and high-carb groups, respectively, this can add up to quite a bit of these unhealthy nutrients.”
“There are not enough studies on the health outcomes of following a low-carb diet for a long period of time in order to determine its potential effects,” Kennedy says.
Ludwig says that’s on the horizon. Next, his team plans to study how a low-carb diet may influence weight loss over a longer period of time.
