One of the most popular groups of diets at the moment is low-carb diets like Atkins. But new research suggests that this type of diet could lower your life expectancy by four years.
The new study was done over 25 years and it seems to show that having a moderate carb diet is so much healthier for you than a low-carb one. The one caveat of the research? It relied on people remembering the number of carbs they ate, according to BBC News.
The study was published in The Lancet Public Health. 15,400 Americans filled out questionnaires about their eating and drinking habits, and also put down their portion sizes. The research team estimated what kind of nutritional values they got from the food, including carbs, calories, fat, and protein. These over 15k people were followed by the team for an average of 25 years.
Low-carb diets – not the best option
The group in the study who got about 50-55 percent of their energy from carbs (considered to be the moderate carb diet) had a lower risk of death compared to the other groups – people who followed low-carb diets and the ones who were on high-carb diets too.
Researchers estimated that people who consume carbs in moderation (not too many, not too few) tend to live on average until they’re about 83. This means about four years more than people on extra low-carb diets. Also, about 2.3 years more than simple low-carb diets followers. And 1.1 years more than the ones in the high-carb group. Notice something? People who live the longest consume the most carbs.
We’ve talked at length about good carbs and bad carbs. But let’s summarize! The large carbohydrate group includes plenty of necessary and not so necessary foods. On the one hand, we have vegetables, fruit, but also evil sugar. And on the other hand, there are things like potatoes, bread, rice, pasta, and cereal.
Previous studies that involved over 400 thousand people from more than 20 countries had similar results.
