Are Extreme Diets Doing More Harm Than Good?
Extreme diets are everywhere in the wellness world. Sometimes they’re labelled as such, but often the advice to eat ‘low’ something or cut out another is masqueraded behind talk of health benefits. Yet the science would disagree. A new study from the The Journal of Nutrition by Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan reported that extremely reducing or increasing carbohydrate and fat intakes could affect life expectancy in the long term.
The researchers measured daily dietary intakes of carbohydrates, fats, and total energy intake of over 80,000 people over the course of nine years to find that diets high and low in carbohydrates and fats lead to higher all-cause and cancer-related mortality.
Specifically in women, the researchers found diets moderately-low in carbohydrates – meaning under 50% of calories coming from carbohydrates, or under 250g of carbs for those eating 2000 calories a day – was associated with higher instances of cardiovascular disease. But diets high in carbohydrates (with over 65% of calorie intake coming from the macronutrient, or 325g of carbs from a 2000 calorie diet) were all associated with the risk of all-cause and cancer-related mortality.
Excerpted from Women’s Health
