Diabetes & Byetta

While many people seek to manage their weight through
popular low-carb diets like Atkins, some observers
voice concerns over potential side effects, primarily
osteoporosis, or "brittle bones."

New research from the University of South Florida may
put such worries to rest. The results show that a
strict, low-carbohydrate diet had no adverse effect on
bone loss for people participating in the study.
Furthermore, they lost 14 pounds.

"The diet did not appear to compromise bone integrity
or lead to bone loss," said Dr. John D. Carter, a
rheumatology expert at the university’s medical school
and one of the study’s authors. "I was surprised by

the results. People on low-carbohydrate diets absorb
less calcium and excrete more calcium, so you’d expect
they would be more of an effect on their bones."
Earlier studies on animals suggested that
low-carb weight-loss plans could affect bone quality.
The worries centered around whether replacing calories
from carbohydrates with more high-protein foods like
meat and eggs alters the body’s acid balance, thus
leading to more bone depletion.
To reach their findings, Carter and his team tracked
30 overweight patients for three months. Half of them
followed an eating plan of no less than 30 grams of
carbs a day for the first month and nothing less than
40 grams a day for the other two months.

For comparison’s sake, the remainder of the
participants ate regular foods. After three months,
Carter’s team found the difference in bone loss
between the two groups was insignificant.

Carter noted that his team was looking for large
differences in bone quality, so may have missed the
subtle effects of low-carb diets. The study appears in
May’s Osteoporosis International journal.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 15th, 2004 at 8:46 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.