The Fat Paradox

Dr. Volek has also been writing about low-carb diets for years, trying to get the word out. A MEDLINE search of peer-reviewed literature shows that he has authored or co-authored 146 protessional papers, many of them on low-carb diets.

I asked him what comes next in his research. He says that he will study qualitative factors.

I told Dr. Volek that as I switched to a higher fat diet I am finding that the fats that I really like are cream cheeses and stuff like that, which are pure fat. I wonder whether it matters what the source of the fat is?

“That is a really good question,” he replied. “We have trials right now in progress where we are specifically asking that question. That hasn’t been addressed formally in any studies, and it is hard to guess what is going to happen. Certainly under normal carbohydrate intake you can make the case that the type of fat matters, but when you titrate carbs down pretty low and insulin is low, it may not be as important. So give us about 6 months and we will have some answers on that question.”

I also wondered about advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). Are they as important a consideration on a low-carb diet as they clearly are on the standard high carb diet?

Dr. Volek says that A1C, which does go down when people follow a low-carb diet, is the only AGE marker that low-carb trials have measured. “But it is something that definitely needs to be pursued and documented.”

I will, of course, pursue Dr. Volek and his further research and report his further findings here. Be prepared for even more paradoxes in this important and fascinating story of fat metabolism.