Low Carbohydrate Diet

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Low-carb becoming new mantra for heart health

Low-carb edges low-fat when it comes to reducing heart risk factors.

Low-fat and low-carbohydrate diets can be equally effective at helping obese adults shed weight over the longer term, but cutting carbs may have an advantage when it comes to some heart risk factors, a study published Monday suggests.

Researchers say the findings offer reassurance that low-carb diets -- which tend to be relatively high in fat -- are not a threat to heart health.

Instead, the study found that over two years, people on the low-carb plan had a greater increase in "good" HDL cholesterol than those on the low-fat regimen. They also had a more significant dip in diastolic blood pressure, the bottom number in a blood pressure reading.

Still, that does not mean that everyone hoping to lose weight should go low-carb, according to lead researcher Dr. Gary D. Foster of Temple University in Philadelphia.

Both diets, he told Reuters Health in an interview, helped people shed pounds and improve their risk factors for heart disease. So the bottom line is that individuals should choose the diet changes that they can live with for the long haul, according to Foster.

"With either diet, you're looking pretty good," he said. Read more at lifestyle.in.msn.com

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