Adhering to a strict, low-carbohydrate diet two days per week led to greater reductions in weight and insulin levels when compared with standard daily dieting, according to a recent presentation at the 2011 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Research dietician Michelle Harvie and her colleagues compared three diets during four months for effects on weight loss and blood markers of breast cancer risk among 115 women with a family history of breast cancer.
They randomly assigned patients to one of three diets. The first was a calorie-restricted, low-carbohydrate diet for two days per week. The second regimen, a similar two-day low-carbohydrate diet in which patients were also permitted to ‘ad lib’ with unlimited protein and healthy fats, such as lean meats, olives and nuts. The third diet was a standard, calorie-restricted daily Mediterranean diet for seven days per week.
Women on the two-day diets lost, on average, 4 kilograms (about 9 pounds) compared to 2.4 kilograms (about 5 pounds) for women who were dieting daily.
Insulin resistance also decreased by 22 percent with the restricted low-carbohydrate diet, 14 percent with the ‘ad lib’ low-carbohydrate diet, and only 4 percent with the standard Mediterranean diet.
"It is interesting that the diet that only restricts carbohydrates but allows protein and fats is as effective as the calorie-restricted, low-carbohydrate diet," Harvie said. She and her colleagues plan to further study carbohydrate intake and breast cancer.
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