Dana Carpendar at Hold the Toast blog recaps the results of an interesting study in the Archives of Internal Medicine:

47% of the low carb group had their blood pressure medication discontinued in the course of the study, as compared to 21% of the low fat group. Dr. William Yancy, who ran the study, said the difference in the two groups might have been even greater had subjects remained on their blood pressure medication, but they instead took people off medications as their readings normalized.

The study started the low carb group at the true low carb level promulgated by the Atkins diet, 20 grams per day. Far too often, studies comparing low carb diets to low fat diets use 100 or more grams per day of carbohydrate. The study lasted nearly a year, long enough for true differences in the diets to be seen. For the low fat diet group, the study added a common diet drug, orlistat, a drug that sequesters fat so it can be eliminated before being absorbed by the body.

Weight loss for the two groups is statistically insignificant, even though some low carbers have pointed to the results proudly. The small sample size and small difference in the number of pounds lost between the two groups just doesn’t lend itself to proclaiming any victory for the low carb diet. But the study does show the low carb diet is the equal of a low fat diet in nearly every respect. The study’s Abstract points this out.

No matter what you read, the main benefit of a low carb diet in this study was that it matched the low fat diet in nearly all areas, and was superior in controlling high blood pressure:

Conclusion: In a sample of medical outpatients, an LCKD [low carb ketogenic diet] led to similar improvements as O + LFD [orlistat plus low fat diet] for weight, serum lipid, and glycemic parameters and was more effective for lowering blood pressure.

It would be interesting to see how the participants felt about their low carb or low fat diet. My experience has been that the low carb diet is much easier to maintain, as I rarely struggle with hunger even while losing weight.

And, I love bacon.