ADA Supports Use of Low Carb Diets

January 1, 2008

After years of adverse neutrality against low carbohydrate diets the American Diabetes Association has just published new Clinical Practical Recommendations that support the use of low carbohydrate diets. While the ADA claims that they are not endorsing low carb diets over other methods of weight loss this is a huge step in the acceptance of low carb diets by the greater scientific community.

“The risks of overweight and obesity are well known. We recognize that people are looking for realistic ways to lose weight,” said Ann Albright, PhD, RD, President, Health Care & Education, American Diabetes Association. “The evidence is clear that both low-carbohydrate and low-fat calorie restricted diets result in similar weight loss at one year. We’re not endorsing either of these weight-loss plans over any other method of losing weight. What we want health care providers to know is that it’s important for patients to choose a plan that works for them, and that the health care team support their patients’ weight loss efforts and provide appropriate monitoring of patients’ health.”

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Written by Mike Roussell · Filed Under Low Carb

Mike Roussell is a nationally renowned nutritionist and the president of the Naked Nutrition Network. He is currently a doctoral candidate in nutrition at Pennsylvania State University.

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2 Responses to “ADA Supports Use of Low Carb Diets”

Julia on July 19th, 2008 8:37 pm

The risks of overweight and obesity are well known. We recognize that people are looking for realistic ways to lose weight,” said Ann Albright, PhD, RD, President, Health Care & Education, American Diabetes Association. “The evidence is clear that both low-carbohydrate and low-fat calorie restricted diets result in similar weight loss at one year. We’re not endorsing either of these weight-loss plans over any other method of losing weight. What we want health care providers to know is that it’s important for patients to choose a plan that works for them, and that the health care team support their patients’ weight loss efforts and provide appropriate monitoring of patients’ health.

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Erica, nutritionist on October 1st, 2008 4:33 am

When counseling patients on ways to reduce their waistline, nutritionists are getting frustrated to see participants not losing the weight they expect when cutting fats from their diet. As we all know, rates of obesity and diabetes are higher than they have ever been and, unfortunately, are not going down as fast as the fat content of many food items. So why are people not losing weight on low fat diets? Here is a brief: Because fat, per gram, carries more calories than say carbohydrates (9 kcalories per gram of fat vs. 4 kcalories per gram of carbohydrates) and more calories causes weight gain, we have been taught that high fat diets must lead to quicker weight gain than high carbohydrate diets. Food manufacturers, in an attempt to keep sales high, maintain this idea and prompt us to buy more foods with less fat. However, if the body uses fats in a completely different way than it uses carbohydrates, why do we assume one calorie of fat is equal to one calorie of carbohydrate? (Is 1 gram of sugar equal to 1 gram of lettuce?) Physiologically, once carbohydrate intake exceeds the amount needed for basic energy needs, excess is transported to the liver where it becomes a very low density lipoprotein VLDL (The worse type of cholesterol). It is then shuttled through the blood where it can become trapped in the arterial walls and lead to high blood pressure and heart disease. If fat content is being decreased, what is going in its place? You guessed it, carbohydrates.

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