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Low Carb Diets: Are They Safe?

Summary & Participants

So-called low carb diets are becoming more and more popular in the quest to fight the battle of the bulge. But how effective are these diets, and more importantly, how safe?

Medically Reviewed On: July 22, 2008

Webcast Transcript

MARTHA MCKITTRICK, RD, CDE: Refined is basically something that's been processed. I usually call it a white carbohydrate. Again, white pasta or white bread. Unrefined has not been processed. It has more fiber in it. The more unrefined a carbohydrate is, the longer it takes to break down into sugar. Because of the fiber, it slows it down. When you eat an unrefined, it turns to sugar more slowly, so your blood sugar goes up much more slowly versus the complex refined, which it goes up more quickly, versus the simple, which it goes up very quickly.

CHERYL WILLS: Samantha, low carb diets are very popular these days. There are so many books. There are so many different anecdotes out there about what you should eat/not eat. What's the rationale behind a low carb diet?

SAMANTHA HELLER: It's a rationale that I think varies depending on the author of the book. I think when someone chooses or goes on a low carb diet, what they are doing is cutting out almost an entire food group. Any time you do that, you're going to be cutting out calories, so you tend to lose weight. Carbohydrates also hold water, so when you drop a lot of those carbohydrates out of your diet, you're going to start to lose water out of your body quickly. Our bodies are made up of mostly water, so when you start losing that water that the carbohydrate holds onto, you lose weight. And you think, "I'm losing weight." Well, what does that weight consist of? Is it fat? Is it protein? Is it water?

CHERYL WILLS: What are you losing?

SAMANTHA HELLER: Initially, you're losing water. Then maybe over time, if you're losing numbers of pounds, some fat. Then, what I find very scary, you're going to start losing protein. You're body wants to spare carbohydrate because it's the fuel it needs to support your brain and your muscles. So, you'll start breaking down protein. Guess what's made of protein? Your heart and your muscles.

I think both Martha and I would agree that the healthiest and best diet is a balanced diet. You don't want to cut out any total food group.

CHERYL WILLS: Martha, there are so many people who are involved in low carb diets. They are losing weight. You see them all over the television and magazine ads. How healthy are they?

MARTHA MCKITTRICK, RD, CDE: My concern is more on the long-term. I don't really have a problem with somebody following a lower carbohydrate diet for a few weeks. That can actually get some momentum going. Like Samantha said, you lose a lot of water. But then you have to go into a balanced diet. I recommend a diet that has at least 50% carbohydrate. My concern is that long-term, if you omit fruits, vegetables, whole grains, you're omitting vitamins, minerals, fiber, cancer fighting phytochemicals. You're setting yourself up for a disease in the long run. So long run, I think they're much more dangerous.

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