Should Americans Get Half Their Calories From Carbs_ Two Camps Battle It Outpdf
Should Americans Get Half Their Calories From Carbs_ Two Camps Battle It Outpdf
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  1. Should Americans Get Half Their Calories From Carbs? Two Camps Battle It Out - WSJhttps://www-wsj-com.cdn.ampproject.org/...les/should-americans-get-half-their-calories-from-carbs-two-camps-battle-it-out-11606150740[11/24/2020 10:19:27 AM]EDDIE GUYShould Americans Get HalfTheir Calories From Carbs? TwoCamps Battle It OutAs the U.S. government revises its dietary recommendations, opposinggroups are fighting over the healthiness of carbohydratesBySumathi ReddyNov. 23, 2020 11:59 am ET
  2. Should Americans Get Half Their Calories From Carbs? Two Camps Battle It Out - WSJhttps://www-wsj-com.cdn.ampproject.org/...les/should-americans-get-half-their-calories-from-carbs-two-camps-battle-it-out-11606150740[11/24/2020 10:19:27 AM]A food fight over carbohydrates is shaping up for control of Americans’ plates.Years after low-carb eating gained attention with the Atkins diet, the low-carbmovement is trying to gain wider mainstream acceptance and a nod of governmentendorsement. The latest battleground is the U.S. government’s dietary guidelines,which are being revised for the first time in five years.Low-carb advocates believe the current guidelines—which recommend Americansget about half their calories from carbohydrates—are partly to blame for America’shigh rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Lining up against them are supporters ofplant-based diets, among others, who argue that low-carb diets often include toomuch saturated fat from meat and dairy products and neglect important sources ofnutrients like fruit, certain vegetables and whole grains.A meal in a low-carb diet might consist of salmon and asparagus.ILLUSTRATION: GETTY IMAGESDuring heated public hearings over the past 18 months, low-carb advocates pushed
  3. Should Americans Get Half Their Calories From Carbs? Two Camps Battle It Out - WSJhttps://www-wsj-com.cdn.ampproject.org/...les/should-americans-get-half-their-calories-from-carbs-two-camps-battle-it-out-11606150740[11/24/2020 10:19:27 AM]to include a low-carb diet option in the new dietary guidelines, which thegovernment is expected to finalize in December. A federal advisory committeerejected that idea, saying evidence supporting that approach wasn’t conclusive. Nowlow-carb advocates have regrouped and are pushing the government to include adisclaimer with the final guidelines saying they are “only for healthy Americans”—marking them irrelevant for the majority of the country who are overweight or havediabetes or prediabetes.For many such people, low-carb advocates say it’s unhealthy to follow the currentguidelines and better to follow a low-carb approach. “About half of the country haseither diabetes or prediabetes, 40% are obese, and if you include overweightAmericans it’s about 70%,” says Mark Cucuzzella, director of an advocacy groupcalled the Low-Carb Action Network and a professor and director of low-carbnutrition at the West Virginia University Center for Diabetes and Metabolic Health.“The people that are well, they really don’t need the government’s advice.”ADVERTISEMENTThe U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and HumanServices are currently reviewing recommendations from advisory committees oneverything from carbohydrate levels to sugar intake to alcohol limits. Theguidelines, which get updated every five years, have a broad impact. They helpdetermine school lunch programs, shape state and local health promotion efforts,and influence what food companies make.Seven percent of Americans report eating a low-carb diet this year, up from 5% in2018, according to a survey conducted by the International Food Information
  4. Should Americans Get Half Their Calories From Carbs? Two Camps Battle It Out - WSJhttps://www-wsj-com.cdn.ampproject.org/...les/should-americans-get-half-their-calories-from-carbs-two-camps-battle-it-out-11606150740[11/24/2020 10:19:27 AM]Council, a nonprofit science communications and consumer research organization.Low-carb advocates argue that the approach should be more widespread—and werevocal enough at hearings over the new dietary guidelines to get the federal advisorycommittee to review their case.“This came out big at the first meeting that the public spoke,” says Carol Boushey, aregistered dietitian and associate research professor in the epidemiology program atthe University of Hawaii Cancer Center who chaired the dietary patternssubcommittee.ADVERTISEMENTOne of the leaders in the low-carb lobby is the Low-Carb Action Network, whichdescribes itself as a coalition of doctors, academics, advocates and consumers oflow-carb diets. They say they have more than 550 members, about 230 of whom aremedical professionals, and that they don’t take money from industry. The groupbelieves a low carb diet should be defined as one where carbohydrates make up 25%or less of daily calories.They argue that reducing carbohydrates can help prevent and even reverse Type 2diabetes, help people lose weight, and reduce the risk of heart disease.Carbohydrates raise the level of glucose in a person’s blood; the body producesinsulin to reduce and regulate glucose levels. Low-carb advocates cite researchsuggesting that when blood sugar spikes too high too often, the resulting increases ininsulin levels can make the body resistant to insulin and contribute to Type 2diabetes and obesity. They also say carbohydrates increase the risk of heart diseaseby raising blood levels of triglycerides and small LDL particles, and high sugar
  5. Should Americans Get Half Their Calories From Carbs? Two Camps Battle It Out - WSJhttps://www-wsj-com.cdn.ampproject.org/...les/should-americans-get-half-their-calories-from-carbs-two-camps-battle-it-out-11606150740[11/24/2020 10:19:27 AM]intake increases blood pressure.There is some research on their side. An American Diabetes Association panelpublished a report last year that found sufficient evidence that a low and very lowcarbohydrate diet can be helpful in lowering blood sugar levels and even loweringmedication use. The benefits were more pronounced for the very low carbohydratediets. The ADA review defined low carbohydrate diets as having less than 45% ofcalories from carbs and a very low carbohydrate diet as less than 26%.Ronald M. Krauss, a professor of pediatrics and medicine at the University ofCalifornia, San Francisco, says there is a growing body of evidence supporting low-carb diets to improve insulin resistance and cholesterol levels, which reduce the riskof heart disease and diabetes.ADVERTISEMENTDr. Krauss is on the scientific advisory board of Virta Health, a company thatprovides very low-carbohydrate diet counseling for people with diabetes and haspublished data showing that prolonged treatment with a very low-carbohydrate dietreduces insulin resistance and a number of cardiovascular risk factors in Type 2diabetes patients.RELATED COVERAGE•New Limits Urged on Americans’ Sugar Consumption Amid Rising ObesityConcerns•Men Urged to Limit Alcohol to One Drink a Day Amid New Concerns
  6. Should Americans Get Half Their Calories From Carbs? Two Camps Battle It Out - WSJhttps://www-wsj-com.cdn.ampproject.org/...les/should-americans-get-half-their-calories-from-carbs-two-camps-battle-it-out-11606150740[11/24/2020 10:19:27 AM]•Do Babies Need to Eat Meat?•A Key to Healthier Adult Diets: Healthier Baby DietsLow-carb diets are often higher in fat than higher-carb diets because people ofteneat more meat when they cut carbs. But the research on the cholesterol impact ismixed. William Yancy, a general internist and obesity medicine specialist at DukeUniversity, says studies have shown that on average low-carbohydrate diets increasethe levels of good HDL cholesterol and reduce triglyceride levels compared withlow fat diets. Furthermore, levels of bad LDL cholesterol do not on averagesignificantly increase in people losing weight on a low-carbohydrate diet.“In head-to-head trials, low fat diets might be more effective for lowering LDLcholesterol but there are other advantages of low carb diets,” which are generallyhigher in fat, says Dr. Yancy, who has been studying low carb diets for nearly 20years. “What happens is people aren’t as hungry if they eat a low carbohydrateeating pattern so they end up self-restricting spontaneously.”Opponents of a low-carb approach say it’s important to distinguish betweendifferent types of carbohydrates. While highly processed carbs like white bread,sugar-laden packaged foods and sodas spike blood sugar quickly, other foods thatcontain carbohydrates like fruits, certain vegetables, whole grains and beans alsocontain fiber, which helps glucose release more steadily into the bloodstream. Thosefoods also contain beneficial nutrients and are low in cholesterol and unhealthy fats,like saturated and trans fats.ADVERTISEMENT
  7. Should Americans Get Half Their Calories From Carbs? Two Camps Battle It Out - WSJhttps://www-wsj-com.cdn.ampproject.org/...les/should-americans-get-half-their-calories-from-carbs-two-camps-battle-it-out-11606150740[11/24/2020 10:19:27 AM]“We think Americans already consume too few carbohydrates in the form of helpfulcarbohydrates,” says Susan Levin, director of nutrition education for the PhysiciansCommittee for Responsible Medicine, an advocacy group that supports plant-baseddiets.Shivam Joshi, a primary care and lifestyle medicine physician at NYU LangoneHealth and Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, sees patients at Bellevue’s Plant-basedLifestyle Medicine Program. Started about two years ago, the program aims to helppatients with chronic diseases get healthier with lifestyle changes, primarilyfollowing a plant-based diet consisting largely of whole, unprocessed plant foods.“The demonization of healthy carbs is because of our inability to separate unhealthycarbs from healthy carbs,” says Dr. Joshi, who cites foods like whole grains andoats, quinoa, and bananas as healthy carbs. “People are now afraid to eat bananasbecause they think it will cause diabetes but a banana is very different from bananabread.”Shivam Joshi, a primary care and lifestyle medicine physician at NYU Langone Health and Bellevue Hospital,says it is important to distinguish between types of carbohydrates. Foods such as whole grains and oats, quinoaand bananas fall into the healthy category, he says.PHOTO: GETTY IMAGESSome experts also say it’s difficult to tell whether the health benefits noted in low-carb research come from reducing carbohydrates or simply from reducing calories—people often consume fewer calories when they eat fewer carbs.
  8. Should Americans Get Half Their Calories From Carbs? Two Camps Battle It Out - WSJhttps://www-wsj-com.cdn.ampproject.org/...les/should-americans-get-half-their-calories-from-carbs-two-camps-battle-it-out-11606150740[11/24/2020 10:19:27 AM]Alice H. Lichtenstein, director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory andprofessor of nutrition at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy atTufts University, says there’s no evidence that low-carb diets reduce the risk ofheart disease and diabetes more than other types of weight-loss diets.Dr. Lichtenstein was vice-chair of the 2015 dietary guidelines advisory committeethat issued recommendations to the government five years ago. “We have two long-term studies that indicate the level of carbs alone has little effect in terms of weightloss or cardiometabolic risk factors,” she says.This year’s dietary patterns subcommittee also found it difficult to drawconclusions. Jamy Ard, a member of the dietary patterns subcommittee and aprofessor in the department of epidemiology and prevention at Wake Forest Schoolof Medicine, said the biggest challenge the subcommittee had was isolating thehealth impact of low-carb diets when they’re not being used for weight loss orcutting calories.The low-carb camp is undaunted, firing off a letter earlier this month criticizing thesubcommittee’s failure to endorse a low-carb diet option to the U.S. secretaries ofagriculture and health and human services, where recommendations for the finalguidelines are under review. Advocates requested that the final guidelines should“include a prominent statement that its recommendations are ‘Only for HealthyAmericans’ so that those with diet-related chronic diseases will know that theseGuidelines are not appropriate for them.”A USDA spokesperson says the dietary guidelines are “intended to be generalizableto the American population at large” and that it’s “beyond the scope of the dietaryguidelines to be tailored to specific groups or treat specific diseases.” Butorganizations often build on the guidelines to tailor advice to particular needs andconditions, the spokesperson noted: “The dietary guidelines serve as one piece ofAmerica’s larger nutrition guidance landscape.”Write to Sumathi Reddy at sumathi.reddy@wsj.comSHARE YOUR THOUGHTSWhich dietary approach works best for you: a low-carb diet, a plant-based diet, orsomething else? Join the discussion below.
  9. Should Americans Get Half Their Calories From Carbs? Two Camps Battle It Out - WSJhttps://www-wsj-com.cdn.ampproject.org/...les/should-americans-get-half-their-calories-from-carbs-two-camps-battle-it-out-11606150740[11/24/2020 10:19:27 AM]POPULAR ON WSJ.COMBACK TO TOPWSJ Membership BenefitsCustomer CenterLegal Policies
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