‘Meat-heavy, low-carb diets can shorten life span’
LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Middle-aged people who get roughly half their daily calories from carbohydrates live several years longer on average than those with meat-heavy low-carb diets, researchers reported yesterday. The findings, published in The Lancet medical journal, challenge a trend in Europe and North America toward so-called Paleo diets which encourage people to eat meat and fats instead of carbohydrates.
Proponents of these “Stone Age” diets argue that the rapid shift 10,000 years ago — with the advent of agriculture — to grains, dairy and legumes has not allowed the human body enough time to adapt to these high-carb foods.
For the study, receiving less than 40 per cent of total energy intake from carbohydrates qualified as a low-carb regimen, though many such diets reduce the share to 20 percent or less.
At the other extreme, a 70 percent or higher share of carbohydrates — such as pasta, rice, cakes, sugary drinks –—can also reduce longevity, but by far less, the scientists found.
“Low-carb diets that replace carbohydrates with protein or fat are gaining widespread popularity as a health and weight loss strategy,” said lead author Sara Seidelmann, a researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
“However, our data suggests that animal-based low-carbohydrate diets might be associated with shorter lifespan and should be discouraged,” Seidelmann said.