Thursday, September 27, 2007

Low carb research in the works

It seems like I'm on the once a month blogging schedule. But, it's with good reason.

Since the beginning of the month, I've been working hard to collect participants, design the blood draw scheme, design diets and order supplies for my upcoming dissertation (PhD thesis) project at UConn.

For the past 3 years, I've been fortunate to work and research along side the great and all-knowing low-carb expert, Jeff Volek, PhD RD. With Jeff I've looked at the effects of low-carb (very low-carb to be precise) diets on individuals with the dyslipidemia of Metabolic Syndrome, and on weight-loss combined with resistance training.

My previous research experience at the University of Alberta in Canada revolved around how different types of fat sources affect blood cholesterol levels and cholesterol synthesis rates. In my MS, I did a human feeding study (translation = I cooked all meals every day for my participants) for a total of 4 months. It was tiresome, but a good experience.

I'm now combining my past experience with my current research to design one of the most interesting low-carb experiments that has ever been done.

What I'm doing is cooking all meals again (yes, I'm crazy) for 12 men aged 30-60, for a total of 3 months. This means that I'll be a slave to a kitchen again, cooking and preparing a total of 252 meals and 252 snacks each week. It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm really looking forward to it.

The design is such that I have created a 7-day rotational menu for 2 different low-carb diets that will last a period of 6-weeks each. One diet will be the typical low-carb diet that is rich in saturated fat, mostly from dairy sources (butter, cheese and cream). The other diet is the supposed "ideal" low-carb diet that is rich in monounsaturated fat and omega-3 polyunsaturated fat from olive oil, canola oil, fish and omega-3 eggs. Each man will consume one of the diets in a cross-over design with the first one of the diets being given between the middle of October and the beginning of December, and the other mid-February to the end of March (2008). Three weeks prior to all this food being given, each man will follow a self-selected low-carb diet for 4 weeks so that their bodies are all adapted to the carb-restriction.

The diets are also not "diets" in the traditional sense. The calorie level provided is actually going to be sufficient enough so these men do not lose weight because in previous published papers from our lab group, we are criticised because people lose more weight on low-carb and any beneficial effects seen from the diet are suspected to be just because body weight decreases so much. So, in my study, I'm keeping weight stable.

The overall purpose of this research is to finally define what type of fat a person should eat if they decide to make low-carb their lifestyle. Currently there are no recommendations, so this study may provide more insight into what one should eat.

In the study we're measuring body comp via DEXA before beginning any low-carb eating, pre-6 week low-carb feeding and post-6 week feeding. Also looking at fatty acid composition of the blood, blood inflammation, urine isoprostanes (a measure of oxidative stress), blood lipids, antioxidant status and standard chem panels (liver function, kidney function, etc).

So, with all these measures, my days are very busy. I usually get up at 5:30 so that I can be at the lab by 7am to manage subjects, take blood, collect urine etc, etc.

Soon, my days are going to be even more busy as I become a full-time chef. Like I said, it's going to be a tough job because the diets are so particular and precise, but I'm really looking forward to getting away from the computer and getting down and dirty in the kitchen.

As the days roll on I'll update my progress. Wish me luck because this ain't going to be easy (yes, I know "ain't" ain't a word...just threw it in there for fun ) :)

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Very exciting! Finally some evidence about the harmfulness (or not!) of saturated fat in a low carb diet.

Ivonne W. said...

WHOA! As hectic as that sounds, it seems like a blast! Best of luck with this endeavor, my friend! Holler if you need anything!

Alcinda (Cindy) Moore said...

Quite an ambitious project!! Looking forward to seeing your results!

Linda said...

Fascinating study! I like the way you have designed it. Good luck with all that cooking though!

So FL Gal said...

i would be interested in following your study. do keep us abreast of your study.

thanks.

Peter Hoff said...

Thanks for posting this and for your work in the field.

However, I have one question. Aren't you mixing too many variables?

The cream, and other saturated fats are high in Omega 6- yet the high Omega 3 diet is low in saturated fat? Is this the intent?

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a great experiment and I am really looking forward to the results. Kim

Cassandra Forsythe said...

Thank you all!

Peter: yes, that is the intent. Thank you!

Unknown said...

I'm very interested in this study. Right now a little more than half my fat is saturated with the rest mono:poly 3:1 I don't think it's hurt my cholesterol any, the ratios are better, but I was hoping it would go up some, overall.
It would be really hard for me to eat enough to not lose weight, good luck.

randyfeingersh said...

First, Its great having a real researcher available for comment.

I am very interested in the current "macro content dietary wars" going on. Unfortunately, most of the low carb supports are more religous zealouts than objective evaluators.

Currenlty I have some concerns about the metabolic and hormonal effects of low carb, high protein diets.

Could you please comment on this study on pub med.

Department of Nutrition, Arizona State University, Mesa, AZ 85212,
USA. carol.johnston@...

BACKGROUND: Low-carbohydrate diets may promote greater weight loss
than does the conventional low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet.
OBJECTIVE: We compared weight loss and biomarker change in adults
adhering to a ketogenic low-carbohydrate (KLC) diet or a nonketogenic
low-carbohydrate (NLC) diet. DESIGN: Twenty adults [body mass index
(in kg/m(2)): 34.4 +/- 1.0] were randomly assigned to the KLC (60% of
energy as fat, beginning with approximately 5% of energy as
carbohydrate) or NLC (30% of energy as fat; approximately 40% of
energy as carbohydrate) diet. During the 6-wk trial, participants
were sedentary, and 24-h intakes were strictly controlled. RESULTS:
Mean (+/-SE) weight losses (6.3 +/- 0.6 and 7.2 +/- 0.8 kg in KLC and
NLC dieters, respectively; P = 0.324) and fat losses (3.4 and 5.5 kg
in KLC and NLC dieters, respectively; P = 0.111) did not differ
significantly by group after 6 wk. Blood beta-hydroxybutyrate in the
KLC dieters was 3.6 times that in the NLC dieters at week 2 (P =
0.018), and LDL cholesterol was directly correlated with blood beta-
hydroxybutyrate (r = 0.297, P = 0.025). Overall, insulin sensitivity
and resting energy expenditure increased and serum gamma-
glutamyltransferase concentrations decreased in both diet groups
during the 6-wk trial (P < 0.05). However, inflammatory risk
(arachidonic acid:eicosapentaenoic acid ratios in plasma
phospholipids) and perceptions of vigor were more adversely affected
by the KLC than by the NLC diet. CONCLUSIONS: KLC and NLC diets were
equally effective in reducing body weight and insulin resistance, but
the KLC diet was associated with several adverse metabolic and
emotional effects. The use of ketogenic diets for weight loss is not
warranted.

PMID: 16685046 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
----------------------------------

Please note how increased inflammatory markers were defined:

arachidonic acid:eicosapentaenoic acid ratios in plasma
phospholipids

Secondly low carb high protein diets have been shown to increase
IGF. Do you see a danger in this.
All strategies to increase life span REDUCE IGF. This is worrisome to me.

In any case thanks for making yourself available and I envy your the excitement of your current scientific endevours.

Best Regards
Randy