With the rise in obesity and in people's level of fatness, more and more people have been turning to diets that seem as though they would be a fad. One of these diets however, the diet has been around for a long time but some question how well it works and just how safe it is. William Banting created the first known low-carbohydrate diet known to be successful in the 1860's; and in his diet, he professed to losing forty-six pounds in one year. The most popular low-carbohydrate diet around now, by Dr. Robert Atkins, is known as The Atkins Diet. The claim with these diets is that with a higher protein intake and a smaller carbohydrate intake, you"re metabolism will speed up in your adipose tissue. Therefore forcing your carbohydrate needs to be taken from your fat deposits rather than from your food. According to some sources, mainly the American Dietetic Association and the American Heart Association, a low-carbohydrate diet impairs how well your liver and kidney can work and also after a long period of time, it damages your ability to process insulin.
The study being examined, looked at previous information from January 1, 1966, and February 15, 2003, and examined articles that included the words diet, .
low-carbohydrate, high fat, high protein, and ketogenic. .
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Also the studies had to show "sufficient data to calculate both carbohydrate content (grams per day) and total calories consumed (kilocalories per day)." There were many different variables ranging from whether or not you were an athlete to whether or not you took in too much or too little HDL. .
In order to properly compare all of the literature a common equation had to be figured out. To do so, for each study the characteristics were accounted for, and for every type of variable, a different value was given. Then a mean difference from start to finish of the diet was taken and then including all of the other factors, the equation was calculated.
