THE LOW CAB MOVEMENT

By Kate Save, Accredited Practising Dietitian, Exercise Physiologist and Diabetes Educator, CEO and Co-Founder of Be Fit Food.

WHY AUSSIES ARE BACKING THE LOW CARB MOVEMENT

Low Carb diets are possibly some of the most heavily researched and evidence-based diets available, and with just over half of Australians living with illness which burdens their ability to live a healthy life, this includes Type 2 Diabetes and Cardiovascular disease.(1) We believe this is one of the many reasons why so many Aussies are jumping on board the Low Carb Movement.(2)

So, what is low carb eating? Low carb eating means restricting the amount of carbohydrates consumed overall throughout your day.(3) A low carb diet is typically defined as less than 130g of carbohydrates per day, whereas a ketogenic diet is under 20g of carbohydrates per day. The CSIRO science of low carb, define it as 50 – 70g of good quality carbohydrates throughout your day.(4) A low carb diet won’t necessarily allow your body to reach a state of ketosis, whereas a diet between 0-70g per day will put your body into some form of ketosis.

A typical ‘ketogenic diet’ (less than 20g per day) is not recommended as it promotes a very high fat consumption, particularly in regards to saturated fats, plus it is unbalanced in regards to other food groups and completely excludes some vegetables, fruits and most wholegrains which play an important role in gut health. A mild ketogenic diet like those promoted in our Be Fit Food Food programs puts the body into a state of mild nutritional ketosis (50-70g per day). »

This is a state in which the ketone levels in our body are only slightly elevated (0.3-1.5mmol/l), in comparison to other more extreme ketogenic diets that reach higher level of ketosis. Evidence demonstrates that the effects of mild nutritional ketosis on weight loss are very similar to that of the more extreme levels of ketosis, with less extreme side effects.

When choosing products that are packaged look for the nutrition information table. Choose foods which exclude sugar as an ingredient on the label. Be aware that added sugars can be hidden on the label like glucose, fructose, sucrose, raw sugar, brown sugar, cane sugar, dextrose, golden syrup, maltodextrin, malt extract, rice malt syrup, honey or fruit juice concentrate. When reading the nutritional information panel on the label, choose foods with less than 15g per 100g of natural sugars which might come from certain vegetables, fruits, wholegrains and even as lactose which is naturally present in dairy products such as milk, yoghurt and cheese. Now, why would Aussies be jumping onto the Low Carb Movement? Well, low carb diets have been shown to have many potential health benefits. The research shows that benefits can include, overall sustained weight loss, improvement in insulin sensitivity, can assist with the prevention and management of Type 2 Diabetes, as well as help reduce high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risk factors.(4-6) Amazingly low carb diets can help with improving your overall metabolic health to0!(2)

The best thing about low carb diets is that they can be suitable for a wide range of people, making the diet just that much more impressive!(2)

1. Australia's Health 2022: In Brief, Australian Institute of

Health and Welfare [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2022 Nov 21];

Australia's health series number 18. Canberra: AIHW.

Available from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/ c6c5dda9-4020-43b0-8ed6-a567cd660eaa/aihw-aus-241. pdf.aspx?inline=true 2. CSIRO. The CSIRO Low-Carb Diet Health Program [Internet]. [place unknown: CSIRO]; [cited 2022 Nov 21].

Available from: https://www.csiro.au/en/research/healthmedical/diets/csiro-low-carb-diet 3.Oh R, Gilani B, Uppaluri KR. Low Carbohydrate Diet.

StatPearls [Internet]. 2022 Jan [cited 2022 Nov 17]; Treasure

Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing. Available from: https:// www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537084/ 4.CSIRO. CSIROscope [Internet]. Australia: CSIRO. Our lowcarb diet: scientifically proven and not a passing fad; 2019

Sept 11 [cited 2022 Nov 21]. Available from: https://blog. csiro.au/low-carb-diet-scientifically-proven/ 5.Paoli A. Ketogenic diet for obesity: friend or foe?. Int J

Environ Res Public Health [Internet]. 2014 Jan 29;11(2):20922107. Available from: 10.3390/ijerph110202092 6.Feinman R. Dietary carbohydrate restriction as the first approach in diabetes management: Critical review and evidence base. ELSEVIER [Internet]. 2015;31(1):1-13.

Published 2015 Jan. doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2014.06.011