Lowcarbezine!

Low Carb and Appetite, or, Tell Us Something We Didn't Know

The March 15th issue of Annals of Internal Medicine carries the results of a study that simply confirms what low carbers have been saying all along - that a low carb diet curbs a runaway appetite. The article, titled "Effect of a Low-Carbohydrate Diet on Appetite, Blood Glucose Levels, and Insulin Resistance in Obese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes," details a study comparing calorie intake on a low carbohydrate diet (Atkins induction, 20 grams per day of carbohydrate with unlimited protein and fat) versus that of the everyday diet of the subjects. The study, done at Temple University School of Medicine, is notable for being the first carried out entirely in a clinical setting, allowing complete monitoring of food intake. Every carb and calorie was carefully noted.

Researchers found that the 10 diabetic subjects spontaneously ate, on average, 1027 fewer calories per day on a low carb diet than they had on their regular diet. This, the researchers said, was sufficient to account for the fact that they all lost weight.

The subjects stated that they were not bored with the food they were allowed, and that they loved the diet. But they did not eat more proteins and fats to make up for the carbohydrate calories they dropped from their diet. The researchers concluded that carbohydrates had been stimulating the subjects appetites.

Researchers determined that the drop in weight - an average of 1.65 kg, or 3.6 pounds per person in 14 days - was not water loss, a common speculation about low carb diets.

Interestingly, the drop in caloric intake was from an average of 3111 calories per day to an average of 2164 calories per day. Have you ever heard of a "low calorie diet" that allowed over 2000 calories per day? The researchers stated that they found no metabolic advantage, as Atkins claimed for a low carb diet, but knowing how many people struggle to lose weight even at 1500 calories per day, and that type 2 diabetics have a harder-than-average time losing weight, I'm not sure I agree, especially in light of previous studies that have indeed demonstrated that low carbohydrate diets cause weight loss with a higher caloric intake than carb-containing diets.

That a low carbohydrate reduces appetite does not come as a surprise to me. All the way back in 1999 I wrote, regarding my switch to a low carb diet,

"Best of all, I wasn't hungry all the time anymore!

I had always been hungry before - I would have that nice, "healthy" breakfast of whole grain cereal and skim milk, and an hour and a half later, I could have eaten the carpet I was so hungry! I'm not talking "head hungry" - I mean real, empty, growling stomach, getting tired hungry. I had often wondered why I was hungry all the time. I had read - and maybe you have, too - that if I ate a "healthy diet" (low in fat, high in carbohydrates) and "listened to my body," it would know how much food I needed. Unfortunately, I seemed to need enough for an entire army!

But on low carb, all of a sudden, I had a "normal appetite. I could eat a cheese omelet for breakfast, and not be hungry again until 2:00 in the afternoon. It was astonishing!"

(How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet and Lost 40 Pounds, Dana Carpender)

(As I write this article, it is 3:21 pm. I had eggs and bacon for breakfast around 10, and I'm still just as full as I can be. No hunger, no cravings.)

The subjects in the Temple University study enjoyed many other beneficial effects from their Atkins experience. Glucose levels normalized, demonstrating yet again the enormous benefits of a low carbohydrate approach for controlling sugar in diabetics. Insulin sensitivity improved by an astonishing 75%. Triglycerides dropped by an average of 35%, and cholesterol by an average of 10%.

(Indeed, it boggles the mind that the American Diabetic Association still recommends a low fat/high complex carbohydrate diet for diabetics. I can only attribute it to a fear of admitting they've been disastrously wrong for decades.)

So I guess there's no news here. A low carb diet still causes weight loss without hunger, improves blood glucose, triglycerides, and cholesterol, while allowing folks to eat satisfying food.

Go figure.

Posted by HoldTheToast at April 1, 2005 02:27 PM