Are you one of the many people seeking the ultimate diet to support weight loss? There are many diets which claim to be the best and currently trending is the high fat, low carbohydrate diets. Before you jump on the band wagon and follow this type of diet new research suggests the opposite composition of macros may be a better strategy to help you to achieve your weight loss goals.
Low carbohydrate, high fat diets come in many different ratios of macronutrient distribution. The lowest carbohydrate percentage is seen in the ketogenic diet. The ketogenic diet is a diet which is made up from around 70% fat, 25% protein and around 5% carbohydrates.
With carbohydrate intake on the keto diet limited to 5% this makes it very difficult to achieve a balanced and varied diet which includes meeting all the recommended serves of fruits, vegetables, and including adequate serves of plant-based proteins like nuts, seeds, legumes, and beans. In addition, achieving the recommended minimum of 3 daily servings of wholegrains advised to be consumed for health and wellbeing.
Wholegrains promote heath in many ways including supporting optimal gut health by providing prebiotic fibre and polyphenols which feed the health promoting microbes in your gut. By keeping your health promoting microbes healthy and fed this supports the health of many organs and functions in your body. Including adequate serving of wholegrains in your diet may also reduce high blood pressure, reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancers such as colorectal cancer.
A healthy gut needs a variety of different plant foods. 30 different plant foods a week is recommended to provide the variety of different polyphenols and prebiotic fibres needed to feed all the different types of health promoting microbes. This can be difficult if carbohydrates are restricted.
If you are following a diet with extremely high fat and extremely low carbohydrate such as the keto diet research has shown that following this diet as a lifestyle for the long term is difficult. A lifestyle approach to eating habits is recommend achieving and maintain your weight loss and health goals.
A study investigated the effects of two different diets. The first was a minimally processed, animal based, high fat made from 10.3% fat and 75.2% carbohydrate. The second was a low carbohydrate diet and a minimally processed, plant based low carbohydrate high fat diet made from 75.8% fat and 10% carbohydrates.
20 adults with an average age of 29.9 years of age and an average body mass index of overweight category of 27.8 were recruited. Each adult followed each type of diet for two weeks then swapped and followed the alternative diet. Calories were not restricted, and each adult could consume as much as they felt they needed.
It was found that a diet which was higher in carbohydrate and lower in fat resulted in a lower total calorie intake of approximately 689 calories or 2881 kilojoules. To give you some perspective, 2000 kilojoules in an energy deficit each day is enough to help you lose half a kilogram of body weight each week.
One of the predicted reasons behind this significant different in total number of calories eaten each day is due to the fibre content of minimally processed, plant-based foods. Not all carbohydrates are equal. Jelly lollies cannot be placed in the same category for health and wellbeing as whole foods like wholegrains, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and legumes. Minimally processed, plant-based foods like these contain dietary fibre which helps to keep you feeling fuller for longer and helps you to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
An adult is recommended to include 25-38g of dietary fibre each day. More than fifty percent of children and more than 70% of adults are not meeting these requirements. This could be the ‘secret’ most of the Australian population are missing. 57% of Australians are currently classified as either overweight or obese.
Take home message: If you are considering following a low carbohydrate, high fat diet with the belief that carbohydrates will ruin your chances of weight loss success you may want to reconsider. The benefits of following a higher carbohydrate, minimally processed, plant-based style of eating may not only help you achieve more weight loss but add in additional health benefits at the same time to promote optimal quality of life.
References:
- Hall KD, Guo J, Courville AB, Boring J, Brychta R, Chen KY, Darcey V, Forde CG, Gharib AM, Gallagher I, Howard R, Joseph PV, Milley L, Ouwerkerk R, Raisinger K, Rozga I, Schick A, Stagliano M, Torres S, Walter M, Walter P, Yang S, Chung ST. Effect of a plant-based, low-fat diet versus an animal-based, ketogenic diet on ad libitum energy intake. Nat Med. 2021 Feb;27(2):344-353. doi: 10.1038/s41591-020-01209-1. Epub 2021 Jan 21. PMID: 33479499.
- Paoli, A., Rubini, A., Volek, J. S., & Grimaldi, K. A. (2013). Beyond weight loss: a review of the therapeutic uses of very-low-carbohydrate (ketogenic) diets. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 67(8), 789–796. http://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2013.116
- Overweight and obesity. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/overweight-and-obesity
- How Much Whole Grain is Enough? Oldways Whole Grains Council. https://wholegrainscouncil.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/WG_HowMuch.pdf
