SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): A low-carbohydrate, high-fat (LCHF) diet may be linked to higher levels of bad cholesterol, doubling the risk of cardiac events, according to new research.
The study by Dr Iulia Iatan and her colleagues was presented on Sunday (March 5) at a conference in New Orleans, United States, organised by the American College of Cardiology and World Heart Federation.
“Our study found that regular consumption of a self-reported diet low in carbohydrates and high in fats was associated with increased levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol – or ‘bad’ cholesterol – and a higher risk of heart disease,” said Dr Iatan, an attending physician-scientist at St Paul’s Hospital and University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.
The study defined an LCHF or a “keto-like” diet as one where no more than 25 per cent of total daily energy or calories is derived from carbohydrates, and more than 45 per cent of that from fats.
Dr Iatan’s research team studied data from UK Biobank, a large-scale biomedical database, and participants were mostly followed for at least 10 years.
Upon enrolling in the biobank, participants completed a self-reported diet questionnaire and had their blood drawn to check for cholesterol levels.
The study matched 305 participants whose questionnaire responses showed that their diet met the study’s definition of an LCHF diet, while 1,220 others reported they followed a standard diet. Seventy-three per cent of each group were women, and the average age of participants was 54.
After a follow-up over an average of 11.8 years, Dr Iatan and her team found that 9.8 per cent of those on an LCHF diet experienced a new cardiac event – such as blockages in the arteries that needed to be opened with stents, heart attacks and strokes – compared with 4.3 per cent of those on a standard diet.
Dr Reginald Liew, a senior consultant cardiologist at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, said Dr Iatan’s study is useful and “provides additional evidence that the keto diet may be detrimental in some…