High-Carb Diets Lower Weight and Raise Mood Levels

Posted by phunkychic666 on November 12, 2009

By Jeannine Stein in the LA TImes:

Which is better for weight loss — a high-protein diet or a high-carb diet? That endless debate got a new twist Monday.

In a yearlong study, Australian researchers found that both diets worked equally well when it came to shedding pounds but those on the low-carb diet were in considerably worse moods.

The report, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, assigned 106 overweight and obese men and women to either a low-carb diet high in fat and protein or a high-carb diet low in fat and protein.

The participants’ weight was noted at weeks eight, 24, 40 and 52, and their emotional state was evaluated via three standard questionnaires measuring aspects of mood, including anxiety, depression and anger.

Both groups lost an average of 30 pounds, slightly more than in most studies of this type. And in early weeks of the study, both groups showed an improvement in mood.

However, although mood improvements remained in the high-carb group, they went back to original levels in the low-carb group…

[continues in the in the LA TImes]