RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Low-carb eaters could be setting themselves up for obesity, suggests a new study from this month’s issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
THE DETAILS: Researchers analyzed data collected from the Canadian Community Health Survey, which collected health data from a sample of over 35,000 Canadians. They narrowed the sample down to 4,451 people who had submitted information on their diets, including how much and what type of food they’d eaten on the day of the assessment. They found that people with higher intakes of carbohydrates ate fewer calories but more protein, fat, and fiber than low-carb eaters consumed. In fact, the incidence of overweight and obesity in the lowest-carb-intake group was 65 percent, while it was just 51 percent in the highest-carb group, and the risk for becoming overweight or obese was 40 percent lower in the highest-carb-intake groups.
WHAT IT MEANS: Going low-carb might seem like a good idea, but this study adds to the evidence that carbohydrates aren’t the diet demons many people think they are. So if you’re having problems losing weight, it could help to add more healthy carbs—like complex carbohydrates in the form of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables—to your diet. Foods that are low in carbohydrates, such as red meat, tend to be higher in calories, while many high-carb foods, such as veggies and fruit, often have fewer calories, the study authors note.
Need some help tracking the carbs in your diet? Here are a few tools to make it easier:
• My Health Tracker. Go from low-carb to pro-carb using My Health Tracker at Prevention.com. It allows you to track your calorie intake as well as what percentage of your calories is coming from carbs. Aim for 47 to 64 percent, which was found to be the optimal range in the study.
• The Daily Plate. Similar to the site above, The Daily Plate is an application made available for Blackberries and iPhones, so you can track your carb consumption in real time.
• USDA Food Pyramid. Oft forgotten, the USDA’s food pyramid is about as simplistic a guide to eating as you can get. It spells out the most obvious sources for healthy foods, and MyPyramid.gov even offers a handy menu planner.
• Rodale Recipe Finder. Try these seasonal, high-fiber, healthy-carb recipes from the Rodale Recipe Finder:
White Bean Soup with Basil and Tomatoes
Superfast Stir-Fry, with whole-grain brown rice
Spinach Lasagna
Barley Risotto with Wilted Greens
Fresh Berry Sorbet