Most efforts to battle arterial clogging focus on lowering LDL, so called "bad" cholesterol. But higher levels of HDL, the good cholesterol, are also linked to better heart health. A new report shows that efforts to raise HDL with drugs have proven to be trickier, and riskier, than lowering...
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In study after study, lowering carbohydrates in the diet raises HDL. In fact, I don't know one person who is following a low carb diet who didn't experience an increase in HDL. I have metabolic syndrome and prediabetes, but have been following a low carb diet for over 5 years. My HDL is 81, triglycerides 60, blood glucose and blood pressure normal. LDL 118, and presumably with more of the low risk large-particle type since that is correlated with low triglycerides, which is generally true of people who reduce carbs.
Go ahead - check the research. A high fiber, high vegetable, low carbohydrate diet is very healthy.
Laura--
Thanks for the comment. What you say is true--research shows that a low-carb diet that's high in vegetables and fiber is indeed healthy, and good for blood cholesterol, especially since it eliminates a lot of the low-quality white flour baked goods and junk food snacks that make people fat and do bad things for blood sugar and triglycerides.
A lot of the bad rep low-carb diets got came when the Atkins folks, early on, promoted the idea that an all-the-bacon-cheeseburgers-you-can-eat-as-long-as-you-skip-the-bread diet was healthy.
A mixture of high-quality proteins, with lots of veggies and fiber, form the core of a healthy diet. Unlike the bacon-burger diet, it's also sustainable.
Craig, thanks so much for your response. As someone who writes about low carb diets for a living (can you tell?
), I am constantly battling the myths and misconceptions about low carb eating (no vegetables, no fiber, and eating the Three Bs - bacon, butter, and beef all day long). It's simply not true - there are lots of low carb plans that are healthy, and even Atkins is usually mischaracterized (his first book was written in 1972, and he did evolve in his thinking!).
Anyway, thanks again for your positive response.
Laura Dolson, About.com Guide to Low Carb Diets
Don't you think it is a little unfair to say the Atkins folks said "eat all the bacon cheeseburgers you want, just don't eat the bread!" I read several of Dr Atkins books and he didn't say things like that....but when you eliminate carbs, you have to replace with something or you get hungry and then eat junk.
His was a system to get fat off people who just couldn't get it to budge. It works and invites you to add good carbs such as veggies as the system begins to work for you. It made a lot of people healthier. Some fad diets sprang off this same idea such as the sausage and cheese diet....which guys seemed to like....but wasn't very healthy because of the kind of fat in sausage. Eggs and grapefruit is similar but healither.
Eventually the thing is to return to as normal a diet as possible to keep the weight off....which really doesn't allow for some of the junk that companies package and try to convince us is food. Cook real food or for real convienence, eat your fruit and veggies raw.
I know a guy with health problems who scanned the diet ideas at the library and decided if he carried a bag of apples in his truck, it would solve a lot of the things that were ruining his cholesteral, etc. And it did....and that is easier than stopping for fast food for lunch.