A very important study appeared today on the low-carb diet and its weight control benefits.

It was led by Dr. Lustig, who for some time has only been carrying out studies on the benefits of low-carbohydrate and ketogenic diets.

According to Lustig, this study determines that eating a low-carb diet increases metabolism .
That is, it causes people to burn more calories than they consume.

To establish this, Lustig analyzed a sample of 164 obese adults, ages 18 to 65 .

And after a diet in which they lost weight, he divided the sample into three parts.
He then put them on a moderately low-calorie diet to keep them losing weight more slowly.

The diet changed according to the group.

1. The first sample followed a high carbohydrate diet
   (60%, with 20% protein and 20% fat).
2. The second followed a moderate-carbohydrate diet
   (40%, with 20% protein and 40% fat).
3. The latter followed a low-carbohydrate diet
   (20% with 20% protein and 60% fat).

Patients were followed up with these new dietary protocols for 20 weeks.

They all had meals prepared, exercised the same physical activity, and all lost the same amount of weight, adjusting calories as needed.

Nonetheless, Lustig says, when measuring their total metabolism, the third sample was found to burn 250 calories more , on average, than the previous two.
And in particular of the first group, the one who ate the most carbohydrates.

In addition, this sample had low levels of ghrelin, the hunger hormone, and high levels of leptin, the satiety hormone.

The study was funded by Gary Taubes’ NuSi.
A company that together with Lustig has been looking for years to confirm that carbohydrates make you fat more than fats.

And therefore a low-carb diet is the solution to being overweight.

Lustig said that despite the funding, Taubes did not affect the study results in any way.
And that therefore there was no conflict of interest.

Strange, given that Dr. Kevin Hall , one of the world’s leading metabolism experts, who had conducted studies prior to this of Lustig on behalf of NuSi itself, had obtained different results, showing that they count calories when you get fat, not carbohydrates. .

But also given that Hall himself had previously denounced the constant interference by Taubes and NuSi on the results of his studies.

Saying that, as funders, they had lobbied to be able to read and comment on the study results before they were published.
What does this study tell us?
Is it true that the low carb diet increases metabolism?
Unfortunately not. I’ll explain why.

DOES THE LOW CARB DIET INCREASE METABOLISM?

First, the sample who followed the so-called high-carb diet did not actually follow a high-carb diet.

Previous studies had in fact shown that the longest-lived and healthiest populations on earth consume more carbohydrates than the normal Mediterranean diet, but less fat.

The percentage of carbohydrates in these populations (as for example in the Kitawans) is generally around 70-75%, with fats reduced to 10-15% at most.

Above all , what method did Lustig use to attest to the differences in energy expenditure between the study participants

He would use the doubly marked water method .

DOUBLE MARKED WATER: NOT EFFECTIVE IF YOU ARE ON A DIET.

This method is effective for analyzing daily energy expenditure in humans as well, but it could be fallacious if carbohydrates are reduced in the diet or if the subject has lost weight. 

Among other scientists, it was Hall himself who explained that this method was potentially fallacious for those who followed a low-carb or had lost weight, because it gave false results, usually in the positive .

Put simply, Hall had already shown that the doubly marked water method meant that people following a low-carb seemed to  burn more calories than they consumed .

While other methods he used, more precise but expensive, such as the metabolic chamber , and all other indirect calorimetry methods, had disproved the results of doubly marked water.

Furthermore, this method does not apply to people whose weight is modified by ongoing diets , i.e. by those who are following a diet or have just come out of a diet.

And in fact, in terms of weight the people who followed a low-carb did not show, for the same calories with other weight loss diets, greater results in terms of weight loss .

But if I burn more, I should lose more weight, right?

And it was on this basis that Hall realized that the doubly marked water method gave false positives when people had lost weight on a diet.

Now.

When Hall published the results earlier this year of the doubly marked water fallacy in low-carb diets, it is impossible that Lustig was unaware of it already during his study.

And Taubes was.

Impossible because Hall’s studio had been financed by Taubes’ own NuSi, when the two (Hall and Taubes) were still collaborating together.

And in fact Lustig quotes him, most recently, saying he disagrees with Hall.

Unfortunately, it is not possible for both of them to tell the truth.

Therefore, further studies would be needed to understand if Lustig’s results are actually valid .

And possibly there would be a need for unfunded studies from Gary Taubes .
Who has already spent $ 40 million in the past to prove he is right about the validity of low-carb diets.
Failing, as I have explained here.

Here the conflict of interest in my opinion is evident and the problem is that the people who will read the study do not have the faintest idea that behind it there is this incredible infighting. 

Also, as the calories in the participants’ diets were gradually “adjusted” over the course of the study , apart from what Lustig says , there is no evidence that low carb diets increase metabolism , as participants all lost the same. weight during the protocol.