A question for expert low carbers...

[RoobyMurray]

I've had some success with IPD and find it pretty easy to stick to, but people keep asking me about whether it's good for your heart/arteries and, um, I don't know!

Can anyone explain this to me please?

ba da bump

I think people may be saying this as low carb usually equallys high fat which can lead to higher cholestrol and therefore increased risk of heart disease. However if a person is obese they have a much higher risk of heart disease anyway.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor!

Read the south beach diet book. Healthy fats like in fish, olive oil, nuts and avocado certainly not a problem for heart/arteries.

I would exercise caution with eating lots of saturated fat (eg dairy, meat and transfat) though. Although certainly healthier to not be obese as noted above.

Again I am not a doctor....

It's not particularly bad OR good, studies have shown. High sugar/refine carbohydrate diets pose an equal or even higher risk of causing atherosclerosis due to the metabolic patterns that they cause - alot to do with how insulin works and how your liver processes sugars and fats. People who eat a low fat diet with high intake of sugar (especially ones like high fructose corn syrup) appear to have much high LDL (bad cholesterol) and lower HDL (Good cholesterol) than people with a high fat low carb diet. Although I think that the high fat low carb diet is within reason. If a person takes in a massive proportion of saturated or, more importantly PROCESSED fats such as hydrogenated oils, and omega-6 and not enough omega-3 fatty acids, it results in poor fat metabolism and blood levels of fats. However, eating a diet rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids such as those in nuts, seeds and their oils, fish and fish oils, and many other naturally occuring and non processed fats even saturated ones like coconut, they will most likely have a good lipid profile (cholesterol etc).

So a diet of bacon and black pudding, processed and cheese covered meats with very few vegetables will be non-beneficial, whereas a diet of greek yoghurt, seeds and berries, eggs, oily fish, nuts, and lots of non-starch vegetables with a moderate intake of olive oils and even butter... will be healthy for most individuals. But then you could probably figure that out anyway, by looking at it!