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Short Term Benefits and Low Carbohydrate Diet: Temporary Weight Loss?

Low-carbohydrate diets like Atkins, the Zone, and South Beach stormed the weight loss scene some years ago. They came with their own set of controversies, not of which the least was that they flouted the commonly-held belief by the medical community that dieters should avoid fatty foods. And what added to all the furor was the fact that the diet seemed to work for many people. Research has borne out that there may be some health risks involved, but there is also a significant association between short term benefits and low carbohydrate diet.

Significant weight loss and a healthier heart are two of the major results we’d like to see in any diet and this seems to be the case with Atkins, South Beach, and other similar reducing diets, at least during the initial months. However, a number of studies indicate that the relationship between these short term benefits and low carbohydrate diet may be just that – temporary.

What has made low carb diets such a raging success is the large amount of weight lost during the initial period, typically during the first six months. In fact, experiments show that people on a low carb diet lost more weight than those on a low-fat, high-carb diet during that period of time. However, the same studies indicate that after one year, the low carb dieters tended to gain back the weight they had lost – and even added more pounds. And experts argue that the weight lost was in the form of lean muscle, not fat. Moreover, they claim that loss of weight was influenced mainly by the restriction of calorie intake, not because of controlled carbohydrate consumption.

Another short-term benefit of a low carb diet has to do with healthier lipid profiles. Aside from weight loss, a controlled-carbohydrate regimen seems to lower one’s levels of triglycerides, or fats that are found in blood cells and fat cells. The higher one’s triglyceride levels are, the more prone he or she is to heart disease.

While some scientists are adamant in stating that low carb diets do more harm than good, many others are reserving judgment – at least until more studies are done to assess its longer-term effects. The link between short term benefits and low carbohydrate diet may be obvious, but the dieting public needs to know whether it would be in their best interest to adopt it as a lifelong practice.