Is a low carbohydrate, high protein, high fat diet the best way to eat?

A low carbohydrate, high protein and high fat diet has been promoted by many as the solution to a variety of conditions. What is the research telling us? When data from 272,216 people were examined, low carbohydrate diets were associated with a significantly higher risk for all-cause mortality (Noto H, et.al., 2013). Another study followed 85168 women and 44548 men for 26 and 20 years (Fung TT, et al. 2010). At the follow up, a low carbohydrate diet with emphasis either on animal sources of fat and protein, or a low carbohydrate diet with an emphasis on vegetable sources of fat and protein were compared.

The researchers found that the animal sourced, low carbohydrate, high fat and high protein diet was associated with higher all-cause mortality, higher cardiovascular mortality and higher cancer mortality when compared with the diet emphasizing low carbohydrates with fat and protein from vegetable sources. What happened when survivors from myocardial infarctions followed a low carbohydrate diet with higher intake of animal sources of fat and protein? The researchers found that it was associated with higher all-cause mortality (Li S, et.al., 2014). Apparently eating a high fat and high protein diet is not healthy, especially if the sources of fat and protein are from animal sources. References Fung TT, van Dam RM, Hankinson SE, Stampfer M, Willett WC, Hu FB. Low-carbohydrate diets and all-cause and cause-specific mortality: two cohort studies. Ann Intern Med. 2010 Sep 7;153(5):289-98. Li S, Flint A, Pai JK, Forman JP, Hu FB, Willett WC, Rexrode KM, Mukamal KJ, Rimm EB. Low carbohydrate diet from plant or animal sources and mortality among myocardial infarction survivors. J Am Heart Assoc. 2014 Sep 22;3(5). Noto H, Goto A, Tsujimoto T, Noda M. Low-carbohydrate diets and all-cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. PLoS One. 2013;8(1):e55030.

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