Podcast Episode 3 – Making sense of the ‘low-fat vs low carb diet’ debate

Welcome to Episode 3 of ‘A Keith Review’, a Nutrition and Learning Podcast that this week seeks to make meaning of the Low Carb versus Low fat Debate.

Podcast Sections

2. What I learnt (3 min 00)

  1. If you go on a restrictive diet, it doesn’t really matter which, you will consume less calories and so lose weight.
  2. One size clearly does not fit all. 
  3. Those who stand by a position (for their website, their books, or similar) are often reluctant to accept they don’t have all the answers.
  4. Everything is relative

3. What ideas I had and action I took (8 min 35)

BBC Food Programme Episode – Eat to Run, Part 3. Interview with Tim Noakes
Michael Moseley profile
Michael Moseley website, products and publications
https://cleverguts.com
Research papers
1.  23 research papers showing Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) diets always help lose weight better than low fat diets.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/23-studies-on-low-carb-and-low-fat-diets#section1
2. Research showing little or no significant difference between Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) and Low fat diets for losing weight.
a) 32 studies showed low fat diets had greater weight loss
Hall KD, Guo J. Obesity Energetics: Body Weight Regulation and the Effects of Diet Composition . Gastroenterology. (2017) 
b) 48 Randomised Controlled  Trials  showed no significant difference between the impact of the two diets
Johnston BC, et al. Comparison of weight loss among named diet programs in overweight and obese adults: a meta-analysis . JAMA. (2014) 
c) 5 out of 13 showed a significant benefit of Very Low Carbohydrate Ketogenic Diet on weight loss.
Bueno NB, et al. Very-low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet v. low-fat diet for long-term weight loss: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials . Br J Nutr. (2013)

4. Reflection on how I feel (14 min 55) 

Sometime it feels a bit like putting a jigsaw together, and then someone changes the pieces when you are half way through.
Still on a roller coaster of interest, confusion, joy, dismay!

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