Most people have long held the notion that low-carbohydrate diets can decrease the risk of developing heart-related problems as well as obesity, Time reported.
However, a new medical study revealed that this is not necessarily the case. According to a report released by the Journal of American Medical Association, sticking to a low-carb diet may not matter in battling heart diseases.
This was confirmed after a team of researchers led by Dr. Frank Sacks conducted a study on 163 obese volunteers. For the 20-week duration of the study, the test participants were asked to take on four kinds of diets. Each diet was followed by the subjects for five weeks.
Two of the four diets featured food items with high carbohydrates. The other two featured low-carb diets. However, although the first set was composed of two high-carb diets, one had low-glycemic-index food items while the other one had high-glycemic-index meals.
The glycemic index is a form of measurement that indicates the level of sugar or glucose in food. Based on this definition, a higher index means the food item contains more glucose. This increases chance of the body storing the extra glucose as fat.
This is the main reason why those who are on a diet are very meticulous about the glycemic indexes of the food they eat.
The researchers discovered that switching from the low glycemic index, low-carb diet to the high glycemic index, high-carb diet did not significantly alter the participants' blood pressure as well as their LDL and HDL cholesterol levels, Forbes reported.
According to Sacks, the study suggests that the glycemic indexes of carbohydrates do not matter because it depends on how a person's body metabolizes or process the food.
"We confirmed previous studies that showed reducing carbs is good, but we did not show that the glycemic index of the carb really had any favorable effect," he told Time.
"Consumers should just look at the food, and not worry whether it has a low glycemic index or a high glycemic index," he added, "If it's a fruit or vegetable, or a whole grain, then it's fine."
