People with low-fat diets increase their risk of early death by nearly a quarter, a stunning study has found. Researchers discovered that people with low-fat diets tend to turn to carbohydrates — foods like bread, rice, and pasta — and that high-carb eaters had almost a 30 percent higher risk of dying than people on low-carb diets.
The study examined 135,000 adults from 18 countries and was published Tuesday in The Lancet. "Our data suggests that low-fat diets put populations at increased risk for cardiovascular disease," Dr. Andrew Mente of McMaster University, who was involved with the study, told The Telegraph. "Loosening the restriction on total fat and saturated fat and imposing limits on carbohydrates when high to reduce intake to moderate levels would be optimal."
There is still plenty more research to be done, as Time notes, such as directly comparing the risk of death of low-fat eaters to low-carb eaters. Additionally, Jeremy Pearson of the British Heart Foundation said that people shouldn't "get excited and think 'I can eat as much saturated fat as I like.'"
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That being said, the researchers suggest that "individuals with high carbohydrate intake might benefit from a reduction in carbohydrate intake and an increase in the consumption of fats." Read the full study at The Lancet.
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