A low-carbohydrate diet can drive short-term weight loss, but over time may contribute to higher cholesterol levels, a new Swedish study suggests.
The finding, published in the Nutrition Journal, is based on a study of about 140,000 Swedes whose weight, heart health and cholesterol levels were tracked over a 25-year period.
Researchers from the University of Gothenburg found that a national public health campaign introduced in 1985 that pushed Swedes to eat healthier diets led to weight losses of about 3-4 percent. But when they compared people who switched to low-fat diets with those who cut carbohydrates to lose weight, they found those on low-carb diets had significant increases in cholesterol levels over time.
"The association between nutrition and health is complex. It involves specific food components, interactions among those food components, and interactions with genetic factors and individual needs,” noted lead researcher Ingegerd Johansson.
“While low carbohydrate/high fat diets may help short term weight loss, these results of this Swedish study demonstrate that long term weight loss is not maintained and that this diet increases blood cholesterol which has a major impact on risk of cardiovascular disease."