Low-carb diet linked with short life span:study

Ever since the keto diet fad, everybody, weight watchers or not seems to be getting onto the low-carb diet bandwagon. While a low carb diet may be giving you visible results in a matter of days, its long term results have always been a topic of controversy. A new research study from Japan says that a low-carb diet can speed up the process of ageing and lead to a shorter life span. Clearly, it may not be safe after all.

Low-carb diets are popular among fitness fanatics because of its ability in reducing visceral fat and preventing a spike in blood sugar. But the study’s lead, associate professor of the same university advised that if a low carb diet has to be done, it should be done under a medical professional’s monitoring.
For the study, the research team divided the laboratory mice with life expectancies of about a year into three groups. One group was fed with a balanced diet, the second group was fed with a fatty diet while the third group was fed the low-carb high protein diet.

The third group of mice that were fed low-carb, high protein diet got only 20 percent of their total calories from carbohydrates. This is equivalent to a human skipping staple in all their main meals (approximately three).
Results

The low-carb group of mice died on an average nine weeks earlier than the group of mice who had a balanced diet. The low-carb group died even earlier than the fatty diet group. In addition to early death, the low-carb group’s cognitive skills declined by half in comparison to the balanced diet group.