Consuming More Protein, Less Carbohydrates May Be Healthier

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

Dr. Barry Sears fans will find this interesting. At 125 g of protein, this is

not a high protein diet.

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Source: University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign (http://www.uiuc.edu/)

Date: Posted 4/5/2001

Consuming More Protein, Less Carbohydrates May Be Healthier

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - New research suggests a diet higher in protein and lower in

carbohydrates than currently recommended

may help people maintain desirable body weight and overall health.

For 30 years fad diets and various nutritional recommendations have come and

gone, said Layman, a professor of

nutritional sciences at the University of Illinois. The result: Americans take

in more calories than ever, obesity is at

an all-time high, and heart disease rates equal those of the 1970s.

In addition, the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta recently announced a 10

percent rise in the rates of cardiac

deaths among 15- to 34-year-olds between 1989 and 1996, and that just 25 percent

of Americans over age 18 met basic

physical activity recommendations in the 1990s.

" The situation is one of the worst public health fiascos we've ever seen, " said

Layman, who also is a professor of

internal medicine in the UI College of Medicine at Urbana-Champaign. " We may

have fewer people dying from heart disease,

but that's only because our medical recovery is better. We also are looking at

an approaching onslaught of Type 2

diabetes. I think we have a very good reason to re-evaluate where we are at

nutritionally. "

Layman's research focuses on the relationship between exercise and nutrition,

particularly what balance of food helps

maintain sufficient muscle mass so a person can efficiently expend energy to

maintain a healthy body. Portions of a

recent study were to be released in early April during the annual meeting of the

Federation of American Societies for

Experimental Biology in Orlando, Fla.

For 10 weeks, 24 mid-life women all above ideal weight ate 1,700-calories-a-day

diets. One group ate according to the

USDA Food Guide Pyramid - 55 percent carbohydrates, 15 percent protein (or 68

grams per day) and 30 percent fat. The

experimental group ate a modified daily diet of 40 percent carbohydrates, 30

percent protein (125 grams a day) and 30

percent fat.

The average weight loss of all the women was virtually identical (about 16

pounds). From there, however, there were

startling differences for women who ate the higher protein diet. They lost 12.3

pounds of body fat and just 1.7 pounds

of muscle mass, a 7-to-1 ratio. Those who stuck to the food pyramid diet lost

10.4 pounds of body fat and, more

significantly, 3 pounds of muscle mass - a ratio of 3.5 to 1.

" The protein diet was twice as effective, " Layman said. " Women eating the lower

protein diet were less capable of

burning calories at the end of the study as when they started it. We believe

this is the effect of more protein,

particularly the increased amount of leucine (an essential amino acid found in

protein) in the diet. " (Leucine's effect

has been documented in several animal studies in Layman's lab).

The study also found higher levels of thyroid hormones among women who ate the

protein diet, suggesting a higher rate of

metabolism. Protein-eaters also experienced a significant decline of overall

triglycerides (fat in the blood) and a

slight rise in HDL (the desirable component of cholesterol).

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Good Health & Long Life,

Greg ,

http://www.ozemail.com.au/~gowatson

gowatson@...