The benefits of cutting back on carbohydrates, supposedly, go far beyond weight loss.
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benefits → cut → loss
Advocates say the well-trodden diet, low in foods like bread, rice and pasta, can put diabetes into remission, reduce liver fat by up to 70 per cent and even stop epileptic seizures.
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diet → say → seizures
So why are so many scientists reluctant to recommend it?
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scientists → recommend → it
According to Professor Tom Sanders, one of the UK's leading experts in nutritional science, low-carb diets result in a higher quantity of fat in the diet, leading to damaged blood vessels and, ultimately, heart disease.
uncertain
diets → accord → vessels
What's more, an alarming study published earlier this year suggested that ditching carbohydrates could encourage the growth of cancerous tumours.
uncertain
ditching → publish → tumours
Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that mice who ate this way were more likely to develop cancer in the small bowel than controls.
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who → find → controls
Here, leading nutritionists help unpick the confusing science about low-carb diets.
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nutritionists → lead → diets
Can it really shift stubborn pounds when nothing else works?
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nothing → shift → pounds
How many slices of bread are allowed?
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slices → allow → bread
And who should avoid the diet at all costs?
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who → avoid → costs
Keto – or 'low-carb' – diets work by forcing the body to switch its main fuel source from carbohydrates to fat, found in foods such as meat and eggs
How does it work?
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it → work → meat
The majority of low-carb diets – from the popular Atkins of the 90s, to meat-heavy 'carnivore' eating plans – fall under the umbrella of ketogenic diets.
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majority → fall → diets
These diets involve eating a very small amount of carbohydrates and getting the majority of calories from fat and protein.
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diets → involve → fat
This means bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, cereals, and even sugar-heavy fruits like bananas and root vegetables are out.
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bread → mean → bananas
Proteins including meat and fish as well as healthy fats like cheese, butter, eggs, olive oil and leafy greens are in.
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Proteins → include → cheese
How much of each food group you can eat is hotly contested, but a standard keto diet typically comprises around 70 to 75 per cent fats, 20-25 per cent protein and just 5 to 10 per cent carbohydrates.
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diet → eat → fats
In other words, carbohydrates are treated more like a garnish than a staple.
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carbohydrates → treat → staple
Instead of building a meal around a plate of pasta or a jacket potato, typical meals involve protein – like a salmon fillet – some extra fat, for instance avocado or oil, and green vegetables.
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meals → build → instance
Most studies involve eating around 30g of carbohydrates a day, however, which is the equivalent of two slices of bread or one large banana.
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which → involve → bread
When we cut back on carbs – which the body typically uses to make or store energy – levels of insulin start to fall.
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levels → cut → insulin
This is the hormone produced by the pancreas that helps move the sugars in food from the bloodstream to the body's cells, where it can be used for energy or stored for later use.
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it → produce → use
After several days, the body enters a metabolic state known as ketosis, in which it switches from burning sugars – or glucose – for fuel, to using fat stored in the liver.
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it → enter → liver
The liver converts this fat into compounds called ketones, which can then be used by the brain and other organs as an alternative energy source.
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which → convert → source
Studies have found this process can help people lose weight and improve blood sugar control.
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people → find → control
But whether keto is superior to other healthy diets in the long term remains fiercely contested.
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is → contest → term
This type of slimming diet encourages people to increase their intake of leafy green vegetables
Will going low-carb help me shed a load of weight – and keep it off?
One of keto's biggest selling points is the speed at which weight loss can occur.
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loss → slimme → which
Within the first week of adopting a keto-style diet, slimmers can lose up to six pounds, studies suggest.
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studies → adopt → pounds
Other research has found that going low-carb can reduce levels of hunger hormones like ghrelin, with some papers suggesting the appetite-suppressant effect is comparable to blockbuster jabs such as Mounjaro and Wegovy.
But this doesn't mean carbohydrates themselves are responsible for weight gain – or that removing them entirely is an effective approach, explains nutritionist and author Rhiannon Lambert.
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Lambert → find → them
'One of the reasons people often notice a relatively rapid drop in weight when starting a low-carb or keto diet is because of changes in the body's stores of glucose,' she says.
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she → notice → glucose
'This means that much of the initial weight loss can be attributed to water rather than body fat – and this is an important distinction given how often rapid weight loss is promoted as evidence that keto diets are somehow superior.
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diets → mean → evidence
'
What's more, the speedy drop in weight isn't the case for everyone – it can take two to four days on a low-carb diet to enter ketosis, Ms Lambert adds.
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Lambert → take → ketosis
The most reliable evidence shows a weight loss of roughly 10 per cent of body weight within a year.
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evidence → show → year
For the average person weighing 13st this is roughly a stone.
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this → weigh → 13st
Several reviews have concluded that, ultimately, low-carb results in roughly the same weight loss as any lower calorie diet.
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carb → conclude → diet
However, experts say it may appear easier to shift pounds on low-carb because it is a simple plan, making it easy to follow.
uncertain
it → say → carb
Dr Federica Amati, head nutritionist at health company ZOE, does not recommend staying on a low-carb diet for ever, but says it can be a helpful place to start for those trying to lose weight
But even when weight is lost, in many cases, at least some of it is regained once the diet is stopped.
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diet → recommend → it
A recent study involving 294 adults on a low-carbohydrate diet found that after an average follow-up of about three years, half had regained at least a quarter of the weight they had initially lost.
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they → involve → weight
According to Dr Federica Amati, one of the UK's leading nutritional scientists, low-carb is not supposed to be a 'forever diet' – but rather a way to help people start to lose weight before transitioning to a more flexible Mediterranean-style diet.
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people → accord → diet
This approach prioritises gut-healthy fibre, lean proteins and healthy fats, while keeping some low-carb principles in place.
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approach → prioritise → place
The key mistake made by most people, Dr Amati says, is that they forget the transition and instead stick to low-carb which, in most cases, is doomed to eventually fail.
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which → make → cases
…and 33 more, not listed.
The Aporia
