Restricting Carbohydrates Linked with Cardiometabolic Indicators but Not Mortality

Newswise — Washington D.C. — Dietary strategies like reducing consumption of carbohydrates are becoming popular ways to improve health. In particular, what are called “cardiometabolic” diseases like coronary heart disease, stroke and diabetes are some of the leading causes of death for people in North America.

A recently published cross-sectional analysis of NHANES data shows in adult Americans “15% higher likelihood of CMD [cardiometabolic disease] in those who consumed restricted carbohydrate diets compared with those that met daily macronutrient recommendations…” Since cross-sectional findings are not causal, a follow-up study examines whether these adults reporting carbohydrate-restricted diets are more likely to experience higher risk of death over time.

The follow-up study of over 35,000 participants restricting carbohydrates, (less than 45% of total energy intake) found that carbohydrates are not associated with elevated overall mortality risk compared with subjects consuming carbohydrates in the range of 45%-65% of total energy.

This research, supported by IAFNS’ Carbohydrates and Lipids Committees, utilizes the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999-2018 as well as national mortality data. NHANES is nationally representative and has a large sample size, which allows for conclusions regarding the U.S. population.

Proportional hazards were estimated for 7,958 adults that consumed <45% energy from carbohydrates and 27,930 adults that consumed 45-65% energy from carbohydrates and found no differences in their links to all-cause or cause-specific mortality.  According to the authors, “These findings were maintained when the restricted carbohydrate diet group was stratified by intake of total fat, saturated fat, monounsaturated fat, and polyunsaturated fat.”

Because of the careful design of the study, the conclusions are far-reaching. The large sample size, multistage sampling design, and survey weighting “make these findings generalizable to the US population,” according to the paper.

According to author Zach Conrad, “Taken together, these studies suggest that people with cardiometabolic disease are adopting restricted carbohydrate diets, even though these diets may not reduce the risk of death from cardiometabolic disease.”

The studies are available here and here.

The Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences (IAFNS) is committed to leading positive change across the food and beverage ecosystem. These papers were supported in part by IAFNS’ Carbohydrates and Lipids Committees. IAFNS is a 501(c)(3) science-focused nonprofit uniquely positioned to mobilize government, industry and academia to drive, fund and lead actionable research. iafns.org