Lower Blood Pressure with a Low Carb Diet
Let me state right up front that I do not recommend following a low carb diet. That being said I want to share some of the latest research with you.
A study published on January 25, 2010 in the Archives of Internal Medicine compared a low carb diet versus a low fat plus orlistat diet. Researchers analyzed the effect of these two diets on weight loss and blood pressure.
Just in case you don’t know, orlistat is also known by the names Xenical and Alli.
Researchers studied 146 participants from the Department of Veterans Affairs primary care clinics in Durham, North Carolina. Participants were randomly assigned to either the low carb of the low fat plus orlistat diet, received instructions, and were monitored for 48 weeks. Some factors analyzed included body weight, blood pressure, fasting serum lipid, and glycemic parameters.
Results of the study found weight loss to be similar between the two groups at ~9% body weight. The low carbohydrate diet resulted in a lower blood pressure for participants when compared to the low fat diet with orlistat. The low carb diet lowered systolic (top number) blood pressure on average 5.9 mm Hg and diastolic (bottom number) blood pressure 4.5 mm Hg.
HDL Cholesterol and triglyceride levels improved for individuals on each diet, while LDL cholesterol improved only for those on the low fat plus orlistat diet. Glycemic parameters, such as glucose, insulin, and hemoglobin A1C only improved for low carbohydrate diet participants. Although it’s worth noting that the difference between groups was not statistically significant.
Like I said at the beginning I do not recommend a low carb diet. My first choice to promote a lower blood pressure would be the DASH diet. A study on the DASH diet was actually published in this same journal issue.
The DASH Diet alone was compared to the DASH diet in combination with a weight management and exercise plan. The DASH Diet when combined with an exercise/weight management plan resulted in an 11.2 mm Hg drop of systolic blood pressure and an average weight loss of 19 pounds over a 4 month period.
The main thing to remember is that you need to pick a plan you can stick with for the long term. Steady, consistent action is what will lead to results. If you haven’t already I encourage you to sign-up for the e-course 7 Natural Ways to Lower Blood Pressure at http://www.lowerbloodpressurewithlisa.com.
What do you think about using a low carb diet to lower blood pressure? Share your thoughts below.
All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
I’m surprised that after reading a study like this you would introduce it in the manner that you did. I can’t imagine not opening up to the concept of low carbohydrates for health after reading studies like these. I believe you might want to open up to changing your mind about it. A lot of what we believe is based on old, flawed science. Just think, not too long ago we thought it was a good idea to replace butter with toxic artificial trans fats. Gotta keep learning and researching and getting to the bottom of what keeps us healthy.
The Nutrition and Metabolism society has some fantastic information with very recent, high quality science.
http://www.nmsociety.org/
From about.com (references can be found at http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarb101/a/lcbenefits.htm):
Benefits of low carb diets:
* Weight loss (even when not consciously restricting calories)
* Improved triglycerides
* Reduced blood glucose for diabetics and pre-diabetics
* Increased HDL (“good”) cholesterol
* Improved insulin sensitivity
* Decreased blood pressure
* Lower blood insulin level
* Compared to high carb weight loss diets (and when combined with exercise), less muscle mass lost
* Ketogenic diets (one type of low carb diet) used to treat seizure disorders
Gary Taubes’ book, Good Calories, Bad Calories really opened my eyes. As a nutritionist I think it would be wise for you to read it and let us know what you think!
Malcolm Kendrick, The Great Cholesterol Con is a little rough around the edges but has a solid look at how cholesterol just doesn’t correlate with heart disease at all. His theory is more of stress, I lean between that and inflammation causing underlying arterial wall damage, which cholesterol is called upon to patch up. Too much arterial damage, too many patches, higher risk of rupture. This is where a high omega 6/high fructose diet comes into play as a destructive monster, as omega 6 is more inflammatory than omega 3, and fructose is highly inflammatory. Meats, vegetables, low fructose fruits, are basically inflammation neutral, though a case can be made against a lot of factory farmed meats as their fats are far higher in Omega 6.
this is the second time i read the blog, excellent post as usually! regards, Resan