Daily HealthBeat Tip

Low-carbs and your heart

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Low-carbohydrate diets are supposed to help people lose weight. And shedding fat can reduce the risk of heart trouble. But when people cut carbs, they can wind up eating more animal products, like burgers without buns. This would give them more saturated fats and cholesterol -- and maybe raise their risk of heart trouble.

But does it?

Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health checked. Their study in the New England Journal of Medicine was supported by the National Institutes of Health. Researcher Thomas Halton:

"We found no increased risk of coronary heart disease after 20 years when comparing women consuming a low-carbohydrate diet pattern to women consuming a low-fat diet." (eight seconds)

The researchers don’t recommend low-carb dieters load up on animal fats. They suggest vegetable fat and protein, and cutting refined-grain carbs but keeping whole grains.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: November 24, 2006

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