Low-carb/fasting raise, low-fat diets lower risk of early death by 30%+

haidut

Member
Forum Supporter
Joined
Mar 18, 2013
Messages
19,798
Location
USA / Europe
Not very good news for the low-carb proponents, especially considering the fact that those findings match the clinical studies showing that pharmacologically lowering blood sugar increases all-cause mortality by about the same percentage (30%-40%). The study found that even the better-controlled (and this ostensibly healthier) keto diets also raised mortality risk by almost 30%, compared to high (not regular) carb intake. So, to me this is sufficient evidence that dietary carb restriction is not a good thing and should be avoided. Interestingly, the study also found that low-fat diets decreased risk of early death by up to 34%, and this finding is also corroborated by both clinical studies and real-world low-fat diets such as the Okinawan and the Tsimane diets. Finally, one could draw the conclusion that combining low-fat with low-carb diets, which is a good surrogate for fasting, is expected to have a null effect on health as the decrease and increase of early death risk by both diets is of similar magnitude, so the effects of each diet would cancel each other when combined. However, another study found that fasting (even intermittent) actually increases risk of early death by about the same magnitude as the low-carb diet, even in the presence of a very healthy lifestyle (avoiding smoking, exercising, avoiding processed food, etc). Thus, the moral of the story seems to be that low-fat, high-carb diets are the healthiest, and any other type of macronutrient or caloric restriction is detrimental to health, even in the presence of otherwise healthy lifestyles.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/joim.13639
https://www.jandonline.org/article/S2212-2672(22)00874-7/fulltext

Intermittent fasting 'RAISES your risk of an early death'
"...Intermittent fasting – one of the most popular and promoted dieting techniques – may actually raise the risk of an early death. A study of 24,000 Americans over 40 found those who ate one meal per day were 30 per cent more likely to die from any cause in 15 years than those who ate three. Intermittent fasting – which means eating within a strict time window or skipping meals entirely – became one of hottest diet tools in the early 2010s. Study tracked 24,000 Americans over-40 from across US for nearly 15 years. Compared to three, one meal a day linked to 30% raised risk of all-cause death. Skipping breakfast was linked to a higher chance of dying from heart disease. But missing lunch or dinner appeared to raise the risk of deaths from any cause. Results remained even if people exercised, ate healthily and rarely smoked."

Low carb diets INCREASE your risk of an early death
"...Researchers found that adopting a low fat diet could slash risk of death each year by up to 34 percent. Meanwhile, low carb diets increased mortality risk up to 38 percent...'In this study, all [low fat diet] scores were associated with lower total mortality, indicating remarkable health benefits of dietary fat reduction for regaining health. Meanwhile, eating a low-carb diet was a path to an early death. People on keto-like diets were 28 percent more likely to die from any cause when compared to their high-carb peers. Participants on an unhealthy low carb diet increased their mortality risk 38 percent every year."
 

LLight

Member
Joined
May 30, 2018
Messages
1,411
"Jennifer Aniston is fan of intermittent fasting. In October 2019 she said she doesn't eat breakfast and only consumes liquids in the mornings, saving her eating until the final half of the day"
:D

How do we know that all confounding factors are well controlled? People with bad health might be more likely to be found fasting and that may not be easy to control.

A number of confidence intervals nearly cross 1.

Also, these people are probably not dry fasting so, my hypothesis, they don't have its benefits.
 
Joined
Apr 1, 2021
Messages
296
Low fat diets can cause dry skin and constipation especially during winter. Would the reduced risk of death still be applied in this case?
 

CastorTroy

Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2020
Messages
192
Location
Spain
Let's talk about the final study conclusions and see the whole picture.

Figure shows the fully adjusted HRs of the total, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality when energy from low-quality carbohydrate and saturated fat were isocalorically replaced by other macronutrients

sat.jpg


Emerging evidence also underlined the quality rather than the quantity of macronutrient subtypes in LCDs and LFDs: Lower intake of carbohydrates from refined grains and added sugar but not from whole grains, and reductions in saturated fat but not unsaturated fat were related to lower risks of mortality.

Conclusions. Higher mortality was observed for over all LCD and unhealthy LCD, but slightly lower risks for healthy LCD. Our results support the importance of maintaining a healthy LFD with less saturated fat in preventing all-cause and cause-specific mortality among middle-aged and older people.
 

GTW

Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2021
Messages
756
A key word in almost all studies is "association." Association is not causality.
Further, the statistically significant associations found in any population don't apply to any individual.
Are they relevant to you? That's what you decide.
 

GTW

Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2021
Messages
756
FWIW, association vs etiology:
>While studies have shown that calorie restriction extends lifespan, a closer look suggests it’s not the fasting itself that is beneficial, but rather the restriction of inflammatory amino acids. Less food also means you’re exposed to less endotoxin that promotes chronic systemic inflammation
 

Nik665

Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2020
Messages
239
Low fat diets can cause dry skin and constipation especially during winter. Would the reduced risk of death still be applied in this case?
It’s important to differentiate what a low fat diet is. Some studies say under 50% others under 30% so there isn’t just one standard across the board in these studies
 

frannybananny

Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2018
Messages
703
Let's talk about the final study conclusions and see the whole picture.

Figure shows the fully adjusted HRs of the total, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality when energy from low-quality carbohydrate and saturated fat were isocalorically replaced by other macronutrients

View attachment 50127

Emerging evidence also underlined the quality rather than the quantity of macronutrient subtypes in LCDs and LFDs: Lower intake of carbohydrates from refined grains and added sugar but not from whole grains, and reductions in saturated fat but not unsaturated fat were related to lower risks of mortality.

Conclusions. Higher mortality was observed for over all LCD and unhealthy LCD, but slightly lower risks for healthy LCD. Our results support the importance of maintaining a healthy LFD with less saturated fat in preventing all-cause and cause-specific mortality among middle-aged and older people.
Well this is all very confusing since many recent studies show that saturated fats protect the liver and can even reverse liver disease, recommending that people eat butter and other saturated fats before bedtime so that the liver can work off of them.
 

Elie

Member
Forum Supporter
Joined
Oct 30, 2015
Messages
815
"Clinical studies showing that pharmacologically lowering blood sugar increases all-cause mortality by about the same percentage (30%-40%)"
Is this the study? https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa0802743

They compared "intense" therapy to "standard" therapy, of not only of hypoglycemic agents, but also blood pressure and cholesterol lowering drugs.
So it was a cocktails of meds. However, too bad that they didn't list the dosages in the "standard" therapy versus the "intense" therapy, that could have been even more revealing.
 

GTW

Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2021
Messages
756
Saturated fats? Do they mean all including short chain, medium chain, long chain?
What's about monounsaturated, a class of unsaturated but not polyunsaturated?
 
OP
haidut

haidut

Member
Forum Supporter
Joined
Mar 18, 2013
Messages
19,798
Location
USA / Europe
"Clinical studies showing that pharmacologically lowering blood sugar increases all-cause mortality by about the same percentage (30%-40%)"
Is this the study? https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa0802743

They compared "intense" therapy to "standard" therapy, of not only of hypoglycemic agents, but also blood pressure and cholesterol lowering drugs.
So it was a cocktails of meds. However, too bad that they didn't list the dosages in the "standard" therapy versus the "intense" therapy, that could have been even more revealing.

It is not just one. Many studies that looked at major classes of drugs that lower HbA1C (e.g. interfering with glucose absorption from GI tract, increasing excretion through kidneys, impairing its metabolism in the cell, substituting dietary glucose with non-caloric decoys, etc) all found increased mortality risk. Here are some more.
 

GTW

Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2021
Messages
756
Here's another piece of the metaphorical blind men encountering an elephant.
In fat-adapted people a period of low carb or fasting generates ketone bodies without adverse stress effects. Ketones in these circumstances are anti-inflammatory and anti-catabolic.
>The main finding of our work is that BCAA can directly trigger a mechanism that involves oxidative stress and NF-κB activation in circulating PBMCs, and therefore these aminoacids could contribute to the inflammatory process observed in different pathological conditions.
>Despite the established association between elevated circulating BCAA and their deleterious effects, little is known about the capacity of BCAA to directly contribute to the pro-inflammatory and pro-oxidant status.
 

Elie

Member
Forum Supporter
Joined
Oct 30, 2015
Messages
815
It is not just one. Many studies that looked at major classes of drugs that lower HbA1C (e.g. interfering with glucose absorption from GI tract, increasing excretion through kidneys, impairing its metabolism in the cell, substituting dietary glucose with non-caloric decoys, etc) all found increased mortality risk. Here are some more.
That quick and steep restoration of glucose control is more dangerous than a gradual one, likely constitutes such mental gymnastics for both healthcare providers dealing with diabetics and for the diabetic population itself.
 

CastorTroy

Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2020
Messages
192
Location
Spain
They don't mean saturated fat, they mean butter

They meant saturated fat. I don't read this as to avoid saturated fat at all costs, but moderate it and keep it under control. Milk fat is ok. But go with monounsaturated as your main fat source.
 

lvysaur

Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2014
Messages
2,286
They meant saturated fat
No, they meant butter, and beef fat. Those are the only highly saturated fat sources in a typical western diet.

They are slightly harmful ad libitum because of their chain length. Coconut oil is medium chain, even more saturated, and can be eaten ad libitum safely
 

cremes

Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2022
Messages
304
Location
Chicago
Interesting new article on semaglutide and how it has a "surprising" anti-cancer effect.


So mainstream science is now being battered about the face and head with *evidence* that cancer and other diseases are, at their core, metabolic diseases. @haidut and Peat for the win.
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom