For Lower Blood Pressure, Low-Carb Diet May Be Best - Yahoo! News
MONDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- A low-carbohydrate diet helps
people shed as many pounds as a low-fat diet plus the weight-loss drug
orlistat does, and the low-carb plan may be better at helping lower blood
pressure, researchers report.
Their study, published in the Jan. 25 issue of the Archives of , found that both diets helped participants lose
almost 10 percent of their body weight.
"Weight loss was similar but substantial in both groups we studied, but
blood pressure improved more in the low-carb dieters," said study author
Dr. William Yancy Jr., an associate professor of medicine at Duke
University Medical Center and a staff physician at the Department of
Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Durham, N.C.
"There are options out there. Pick a diet you think you could stick to
better, and work with your physician to help you target the right
intervention for you," he advised. Two other studies in the same issue of
the journal look at the effectiveness of the anti-hypertension DASH diet
and a physician-supervised plan.
Obesity is a significant contributor to many illnesses, including heart
disease, stroke, diabetes and many cancers, according to an editorial in
the same journal by Dr. Robert Kushner of Northwestern University's
Feinberg School of Medicine. More than one-third of American adults are
obese, and the incidence of obesity has gone up 140 percent over the past
decade, Kushner notes.
Yancy's study included 146 overweight or obese adults who were randomly
assigned to a low-carbohydrate diet or orlistat with a low-fat diet. The
average age of the study participants was 52 and the average body-mass
index was 39 (30 and over is considered obese). Orlistat is marketed as
Xenical, a prescription medication, and Alli, available over the
counter.
The low-carb diet began with a carbohydrate intake of less than 20
grams of carbohydrates a day. The group taking orlistat received a
120-milligram dose of the drug three times daily and got less than 30
percent of their calories from fat.
Over 48 weeks, the low-carbohydrate group lost 9.5 percent of their
body weight, while the orlistat group lost 8.5 percent. "Good" cholesterol
(HDL) and triglyceride levels improved in both groups. LDL, or "bad"
cholesterol, was only reduced in the orlistat group. Insulin and glucose
markers improved only in the low-carb group, and there was a significant
drop in blood pressure in the low-carb group compared to the orlistat
group -- systolic blood pressure (the top number) dropped by 5.9 mm Hg on
the low-carb diet vs. 1.5 mm Hg for the orlistat group. Similar reductions
were seen for diastolic blood pressure.
Yancy said the blood pressure and cholesterol drops might have been
even more impressive if people had stayed on their medications, but as
they lost weight and normalized these readings, the doctors took them off
blood-pressure and cholesterol drugs.
Two other studies in the same issue of the journal looked at the
effects of the DASH diet and a physician-supervised plan.
Researchers compared the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension)
diet alone and in combination with exercise and weight management on blood
pressure. The researchers found that combining the DASH diet with weight
management and exercise resulted in a 16.1 mm Hg drop in systolic blood
pressure compared to 11.2 mm Hg on the DASH diet alone. Additionally,
those in the exercise, weight management and DASH plan lost an average of
19 pounds over four months vs. less than one pound for the DASH diet
alone.
The third study compared an Internet weight-management program with a
physician-managed program for extremely obese people that included a
liquid diet component, followed by a structured diet, behavioral
counseling and diet medications. The more intensive intervention was more
successful with 31 percent losing more than 5 percent of their body
weight, compared to just 9 percent of the Internet group.
"There are many paths to weight loss," said registered dietitian Karen
Congro, director of the Wellness for Life Program at The Brooklyn Hospital
Center in New York City. What often makes the difference in whether or not
a diet is successful, she said, is whether or not there's a counseling and
support component to the plan.
And, she said, these studies show that you don't necessarily need to
get to your "ideal body weight" to make substantial improvements to your
health. Losing 5 percent to 10 percent of your body weight can make
positive changes in blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose control.
"If it can make you a healthier person, then a diet is a success," said
Congro.
More information
For advice on selecting a weight-loss plan, visit the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
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