Low-carbohydrate Diets for Tension Reducing
Study finds low-carb diets are as effective as low in fat and calories to reduce weight but also reduces stress significantly. Another interesting finding of this study is to corroborate the effectiveness of group meetings to lose weight.
Most studies conducted to compare the relative effectiveness of different types of diets are made on population, except the very overweight is healthy. Among other reasons, is to avoid undesirable interference between the disease (and possibly medication that is taken as a result of it) and the variables measured.
However, this is not realistic, since obesity is often accompanied by various conditions, and one of the most common and important is hypertension, which in turn can cause serious diseases.
In a recent study conducted at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina (United States) has decided to include real patients, that is, people with lung diseases associated with obesity, like diabetes and heart disease. Counted with 146 volunteers, who divided into two groups.
The first was submitted to a diet very low in carbohydrates: less than 20 grams per day. The second was prescribed a diet low in calories and fat. In addition, components of the latter group took 120 milligrams of orlistat (trade names, Xenical and Alli), three times a day. As is known, this drug prevents the absorption of the fat ingested.
Whether they belong to one group or another, all participants had group meetings in which they were given instructions on feeding and making a follow-up results. These meetings were every two weeks during the first six months, and every 30 days thereafter.
After 11 months, both groups lost weight almost the same, on average, 8.5% by weight of the subject to the system low in calories and fat (plus orlistat), compared to 9.5% who managed the group with the low-carbohydrate diet. Both groups also improved cholesterol similarly. Therefore, if we consider only the goal of losing, the two regimes were found to be similar.
However, the most significant difference in favor of low-carbohydrate group, occurred in blood pressure: down 6% and 4.5% (maximum and minimum, respectively), compared to 1.5 and 0.4 low-fat group. According to researchers who conducted the study, the decrease in blood pressure causes for the hypertension is highly recommended low-carbohydrate regime compared to others based on the reduction of fat and calories.
This study also revealed another interesting conclusion, revealing the importance of the group meetings when it comes to achieving good outcomes. So much so that William S. Yancy Jr., one of the study leaders said they were the key to success.
Regardless of the group to which they belonged, those using their meetings with more perseverance (attended 80% or more of the sessions) were able to further reduce its weight: a 14 to 15%, ie 60% above the average , which managed to reduce its weight by 9%. And this is also something to take into account.
Credit to: Adelgazar