Forget fasting, just cut back on the carbs

Intermittent fasting—where you eat far fewer calories a couple of days a week—could be on the way out.  Instead, the new school of thought on diet and weight loss is far simpler: just cut back on the carbs.

Researchers from Surrey University have tested three types of diet on a group of volunteers who were obese or overweight.  They either ate a normal carb diet, a low-carb diet with balanced calorie intake, or a low-carb diet with significant calorie restriction.

Researchers found that both the low-carb diets, regardless of calorie reduction, led to improvements in the participants’ metabolic markers, and they could better process a high-fat meal, including reduced levels of triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood that may lead to heart disease, and a shift towards burning fat for energy.

These changes were seen in just a day.  Although the participants said they felt hungrier on the low-carb days, they didn’t feel they needed to eat more calories to compensate.

Dr Adam Collins, one of the researchers, said:  “We found that by simply restricting carbohydrates, without enduring extreme calorie restriction, we can reap the metabolic effects associated with short-term fasting. This suggests that periodically reducing our carbohydrate intake could be a more accessible and sustainable way for people to manage and improve their metabolic health.”

It could also be the best way to counter type 2 diabetes, heart disease and obesity, the researchers say.

What do you think? Start a conversation over on the... WDDTY Community