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Low-carb diets improve heart health, researchers say

Category: Heart Health and Cholesterol

For individuals who have received unhealthy cholesterol test scores and need to lose weight, a low-carb diet may be the best method. New research indicates that this diet results in significant weight loss while improving heart health.

Low-carb diets have been recognized for several years as an effective way to lose weight. The approach gets the body to burn its own fat stores, which can result in relatively rapid weight loss. However, many people on the diet end up eating more meat, which is rich in potentially unhealthy saturated fat. This has led some to suggest that low-carb diets may jeopardize heart health.

In order to determine the cardiovascular effects of the diet, a team of researchers from Johns Hopkins University assigned 60 men to either start a low-carb or low-fat diet. The results showed that all participants lost weight and improved arterial flexibility, which plays a role in lowering heart attack and stroke risk.

Those on the low-carb diet lost the most abdominal fat, which is considered a major risk factor for developing heart disease and diabetes. This suggests that the weight loss approach may be a safe and effective way to improve general heart health.