Beware, Low Carbohydrate Diets Risk Of Shortening Life Expectancy

Carbohydrate food (Congerdesign-Pixabay)

JAKARTA - When planning to lose weight, many people think of reducing carbohydrate consumption. These high carbohydrate foods include rice, bread, potatoes, noodles, sweet potatoes, pasta, corn and bananas.

For a long time, low carbohydrate diets were quite popular. Besides being able to lose weight, this diet can also prevent diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease.

However, according to research published in The Lancet Public Health, a low-carb diet can shorten life expectancy by up to four years.

The study found that people who got 50-55 percent of their energy from carbohydrates had a slightly lower risk of death, when compared to people on a low-carb diet.

What is a low carb diet? So if you only eat 30 percent of the carbohydrates of the whole diet. Called high in carbohydrates, when you eat carbohydrate foods up to 65 percent of the total food.

For example, in a day you eat three times. If your meal consists of three servings of rice, a few fritters covered in flour, a slice of donut, and one glass of a sweet drink, you can be sure that you have excess carbohydrates.

However, if you only eat one serving of rice and one slice of sweet all day, the rest is protein and vegetables, this can be categorized as low in carbohydrates.

Things that can have a negative impact on health is when you are on a low-carbohydrate diet, then replace your intake by eating lots of protein and animal fats, such as beef, chicken, and cheese. This diet has a greater risk of death.

However, it is different if you reduce carbohydrates, then replace them with protein and vegetable fats, such as vegetables, nuts, and seeds.

According to Dr. Sara Seidelmann, leader of the study, said a low-carb diet is beneficial for short-term weight loss. However, it has a negative impact on the body.

"Our data suggest that animal-based, low-carb diets, which are prevalent in North America and Europe, may be associated with shorter overall life spans," says Seidelmann.

Another conclusion from this study is that, at age 50, people on a low-calorie diet are expected to live to be 79 years old. While those who still eat carbohydrates around 50-55 percent apparently have a life expectancy of up to 83 years.