Low-carbohydrate diets may harm your arteries
28 August 2009
Low-carb, high-protein diets aren’t considered as healthy as eating a balanced diet. Losing or maintaining weight is about eating a balanced diet including carbohydrates and being aware of the portion sizes you’re eating. 
Ellen Mason, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation
Low-carbohydrate diets may damage your arteries, according to research published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Scientists from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard University compared the blood vessels of mice on three different types of diet.
One group of mice were given a low-carbohydrate diet (12 percent carbohydate, 45 percent protein). Another group of mice received a 'Western' diet (43 percent carbohydrate, 20 percent protein) and the third group were fed a standard mouse diet (65 percent carbohydrate, 20 percent protein).
Over a period of 12 weeks, mice on the low-carbohydrate diet gained 28 percent less weight than those on the Western diet. This is consistent with evidence showing that a low-carbohydrate/high-protein diet helps weight loss.
However, the mice who were given the low-carbohydrate/high-protein diet had significantly more atherosclerosis than those on the Western diet. Atherosclerosis is the gradual build-up of fatty deposits (plaques) in the walls of your arteries. The fatty deposits cause your arteries to become narrower, restricting blood flow. This can increase your risk of heart attacks and stroke.
The mice who were given a standard high-carbohydrate mouse diet developed significantly less atherosclerosis than both the low-carbohydrate and Western diet fed mice.
Interestingly, the mice on the low-carbohydrate diet didn't have higher levels of cholesterol in their blood or higher levels of other markers normally associated with atherosclerosis. The measurements of these markers were roughly the same for mice fed both low-carbohydrate and Western diets.
However, a difference was seen when the researchers looked at the numbers of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) the mice were producing. These are cells made from your bone marrow that are used to repair damage to blood vessel walls, or to grow new blood vessels. The mice on the low-carbohydrate diet had much lower levels of EPCs compared with Western diet fed mice.
Ellen Mason, Senior Cardiac Nurse at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) said:
"The precise role of the cells measured in this study aren't clear in the development of heart disease in humans, so it's difficult to apply the findings of this study in mice."
"Low-carb, high-protein diets aren't considered as healthy as eating a balanced diet. Losing or maintaining weight is about eating a balanced diet including carbohydrates and being aware of the portion sizes you're eating. Regular physical activity is also vital to burn calories as we know being overweight carries health risks," she added.
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Related information
- Coronary heart disease - health factsheet
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