Carbohydrates: Insufficient intake or shortened life span of 4 years

Once upon a time, “Have you eaten?” is a greeting to meet and greet people; but with the increasing abundance of material, “rice” is like medicine, is a lot of people respect and avoid weight loss taboo.

In a variety of weight loss methods, the most well-known are those that advocate eating less rice, noodles, more meat, vegetables, low-carb diet.

But the latest research results show that eating less carbohydrates may break the life of up to four years.

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In the United States, a study that lasted 25 years showed that moderate intake of carbohydrates, or from eating mainly meat to eat mainly plant protein and fat, is the secret to a healthier and longer life.

Weight loss diet

The findings, published in The Lancet Public Health, included a survey of 15,400 people in the U.S. about their diets. They filled out a daily diet questionnaire, which included the number of servings they ate.

Based on these questionnaires, scientists estimated the proportion of their daily calories from carbohydrates, fats and proteins, respectively.

After following these people for about 25 years, researchers found that those who got 50-55 percent of their energy from carbohydrates had a slightly reduced risk of death compared to others who had low and high carbohydrate intakes.

Carbohydrates included vegetables, fruits and sugar, but were primarily derived from foods containing starch, such as potatoes, bread, rice, noodles and other cereals.

Health authorities in various countries, including the NHS, provide health guidance to the public on how to prevent disease through a healthy, balanced diet.

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Longevity

Researchers estimate that people who consume a moderate amount of carbohydrates from the age of 50 have an average life expectancy of 83 years.

That is, they

  • live 4 years longer than those who have a very low energy intake from carbohydrates (less than 30%).
  • lived 2.3 years longer than those with low energy intake from carbohydrates (about 30% or 40%)
  • live 1.1 years longer than those with high energy intake from carbohydrates (more than 65%).

The results of this study are consistent with other previous studies, all of which were conducted by more than 400,000 people from more than 20 countries.

The scientists also compared two other dietary groups: low-carbohydrate/high animal protein and fat and low-carbohydrate/high plant protein and fat.

As a result, they found that people who consumed high animal protein and fat also had a slightly increased risk of death. However, supplementing the carbohydrate portion of the diet with high plant protein and fat resulted in a slight reduction in mortality.

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Bad for health

Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston (Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston) Dr. Sara Seidelmann (Dr Sara Seidelmann) is the person in charge of this study. She said the low-carb diet, which promotes eating more protein and fat and fewer carbohydrates, is popular and is considered a good way to stay healthy and lose weight.

However, our data suggest that the meat-based low-carb diet, which is very popular in North America and Europe, may be associated with an overall reduction in life expectancy and should not be encouraged,” she said.

If someone decides to reduce carbohydrates in their diet, they should supplement the reduced carbohydrates with more plant protein and fatty foods, which may also be beneficial in the long term in old age.

The authors of this study concluded that the popular Western diet, which reduces carbohydrates and often results in people eating fewer vegetables, fruits and grains and increasing their intake of animal proteins and fats, is associated with aging and inflammation.

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Controversial

Prof Nita Forouhi of Cambridge University said the important message from the study is that “it is not enough to pay attention to the nutritional content, it is more important to pay attention to whether the nutrients come from carbohydrates or plants.

When carbohydrate intake is reduced, it should be supplemented with vegetable fats and proteins, not animal proteins and fats like meat.

However, some experts have pointed out the limitations of this study and the lack of rigor.

First of all, the methodology is an observational study rather than a cause-and-effect study, and the subjects’ diets are filled out by the investigators themselves, which may be inaccurate.

In addition, since the dietary questionnaire was administered only at the beginning of the trial and 6 years later, and dietary patterns may have changed over the next 19 years, there may be errors.

However, Public Health England’s chief nutritionist Alison Tedstone said the study provides further evidence that low-carbohydrate eating patterns can cause significant long-term health damage.

“We should get about half of our daily energy from high-fiber starch-based carbohydrates, including fruits and vegetables, and at the same time reduce our intake of high-fat meat and dairy foods,” she said.

Recommended reading:

Diet determines the length of life, bad habits become the biggest killer of human health

Healthy Eating: The day starts in the morning, skipping breakfast will reduce life expectancy?

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