The popular ketogenic diet or keto diet for weight loss has been associated with health benefits such as preventing certain types of cancer, or reducing alcohol withdrawal symptoms or the adverse effects of chemotherapy, but it could also be harmful in certain cases , as a new study has shown that a “keto-like” diet – characterized by eating a lot of fat and very few carbs – may be associated with higher levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol and twice the risk of develop cardiovascular diseases, such as angina, clogged arteries requiring stenting, heart attacks, and strokes.
“Our study found that regular consumption of a self-reported low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet was associated with higher levels of LDL, or ‘bad,’ cholesterol, and increased risk of heart disease,” says Dr. Iulia Iatan, attending physician scientist at the Heart Healthy Program Prevention Clinic, St. Paul Hospital and Center for Heart Lung Innovation at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and lead author of the study. “To our knowledge, our study is one of the first to examine the association between this type of dietary pattern and cardiovascular outcomes.” The findings have been presented at the American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific Session in conjunction with the World Congress of Cardiology.
Carbohydrates are the primary source of energy to provide the body with the necessary energy, and low-carbohydrate, high-fat (LCHF) diets, such as a ketogenic diet, limit the consumption of carbohydrates present in food. such as bread, pasta, tubers, rice and other cereals, and also fruits and vegetables.
9.8% of participants on a low-carb diet suffered a new cardiac event, compared with 4.3% of those on a standard diet
If the body does not get these nutrients, it has to break down fat in the liver to get energy and during this breakdown process, ketones are generated, a type of chemical that the body uses for energy when it lacks carbohydrates, hence the name ketogenic. or “ketone producer.” Advocates of this type of diet often suggest that carbohydrates constitute 10% of total daily calories, protein 20-30%, and 60-80% of daily calories come from fat. .
How Restricting Carbohydrate Consumption Affects Health
The authors of the new study established an LCHF diet that they called “keto-like” and in which no more than 25% of the total daily energy or calories came from carbohydrates and more than 45% of the total daily calories from fat. They called it “similar” because it’s somewhat higher in carbs and lower in fat than a strict ketogenic diet, and defined a “standard diet” as one that doesn’t meet these criteria and is more balanced.
They analyzed data from the UK Biobank, which contains health information on more than half a million people living in the UK. When enrolled in the biobank, 70,684 individuals completed a self-reported 24-hour diet questionnaire and also had their blood drawn to check their cholesterol levels. The researchers selected 305 participants whose diet met their definition of LCHF and matched them by age and sex with 1,220 people following a standard diet. 73% of the participants in each group were women and the average age of the group was 54 years. Those on a low-carb diet had an average body mass index (BMI) of 27.7 and those on a standard diet 26.7. A BMI of 25 to 30 is considered overweight.
After following the participants for an average of 11.8 years, and after adjusting for other risk factors for heart disease, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and smoking, they found that people on a low-carb diet had twice the risk of heart disease. experience various serious cardiovascular events, such as blocked arteries requiring stenting, heart attack, stroke, and peripheral arterial disease. In all, 9.8% of participants on a low-carb diet suffered a new cardiac event, compared with 4.3% of those on a standard diet.
“Among participants on a low-carbohydrate diet, we found that those with the highest levels of LDL cholesterol had the highest risk of a cardiovascular event,” Iatan said. “Our findings suggest that people considering following a low-carb diet should be aware that doing so could lead to an increase in their LDL cholesterol levels. Before starting this dietary pattern, they should consult a healthcare professional. While on a diet, it is recommended that they monitor their cholesterol levels and try to address other risk factors for heart disease or stroke, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, physical inactivity, and smoking.”
However, the researchers also found that not everyone has the same response to a low-carb diet. “On average, cholesterol levels tend to increase on this diet, but some people’s cholesterol concentrations may stay the same or decrease, depending on several underlying factors,” Iatan said. “There are inter-individual differences in how people respond to this dietary pattern that we do not yet fully understand. One of our next steps will be to try to identify specific traits or genetic markers that can predict how someone will respond to this type of diet.”
When interpreting the results of the research, one of its limitations must be taken into account, which is that the participants only provided dietary information at a single moment and the data they provided on their food consumption might not be exact. In addition to being an observational study, it only shows an association between diet and an increased risk of relevant cardiac events, but not a causal relationship.
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