Study title and authors:
Comparison of isocaloric very low carbohydrate/high saturated fat and high carbohydrate/lowsaturated fat diets on body composition and cardiovascular risk
Manny Noakes, Paul R Foster, Jennifer B Keogh, Anthony P James, John C Mamo and Peter M CliftonCSIRO Health Sciences and Nutrition, Adelaide, Australia
This study can be accessed at: http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/3/1/7
The diets composed of:
(i) High saturated fat/very low carbohydrate diet: (4% carbohydrate, 35% protein, 61% fat, of which 20% was saturated)
(ii) High unsaturated fat diet: (50% carbohydrate, 20% protein, 30% fat, of which 6% was saturated)
(iii) Very low fat diet: (70% carbohydrate, 20% protein, 10% fat, of which 3% was saturated)
The study found:
(a) Subjects lost more weight on the high saturated fat/very low carbohydrate diet compared to the other 2 diets.
(b) (The good) High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol increased on the high saturated fat/very low carbohydrate diet, relative to the other 2 diets.
(c) (The bad) triglycerides were lowered on the high saturated fat/very low carbohydrate diet, but actually increased on the other 2 diets.
(d) The high saturated fat/very low carbohydrate diet lowered (the bad) fasting insulin levels by 33%. The high unsaturated fat diet lowered fasting insulin by 19% and the very low fat diet had no effect.
(e) The high saturated fat/very low carbohydrate diet also provoked significantly lower post meal glucose and insulin responses than the very low fat and high unsaturated fat meals.
The study shows that high saturated fat/very low carbohydrate diets decrease heart disease risk factors.
