What can we do to improve our health?

What can we do to improve our health
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Extracted from The CSIRO Low-Carb Diet Easy 100 by Professor Grant Brinkworth and Dr Pennie Taylor, Macmillan Publishers, RRP $44.99.

While there are some non-modifiable risk factors that determine our risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes, including our age, gender, family history and ethnicity, there are several non-modifiable risk factors
that we can change to reduce our health risk. Importantly, diet and lifestyle choices remain at the top of this list. Indeed, improved diet and increased physical activity remain the first treatment for obesity and type 2 diabetes. Research consistently shows this is an effective strategy to reduce body weight and improve blood glucose control in individuals who are overweight or obese and/or with poor blood glucose control, including pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes.

Informed by a large body of research, we also know that all dietary approaches are not equal; some achieve be er results than others. But with so much confusion out there and with many approaches not grounded in strong scientific evidence, our role at CSIRO is to conduct rigorous controlled scientific studies and to use the latest scientific principles and nutrition knowledge to create, test, substantiate and translate effective dietary approaches that will optimise health improvements.

Why a low-carb diet is beneficial

For so many years we were told that a traditional high-carbohydrate, moderate-protein, low-fat diet was the most appropriate and, in many cases, the only dietary approach for healthy eating, weight control and type 2 diabetes management. In fact, some health professionals and public health messages still promote this dietary approach as the only dietary approach to be considered. Despite this long-standing message, research shows that a high-carbohydrate, low-fat approach is o en only associated with modest weight loss and reduction in risk factors for type 2 diabetes and heart disease, and that many patients find these recommendations difficult to follow.

Over the years, nutrition research has evolved and advanced our understanding of dietary factors that influence weight management, blood glucose control and risk factors of metabolic and heart disease. Research now shows there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ dietary approach for the management and treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes, and that a variety of different dietary approaches can be effective and necessary in order to tailor diet approaches for individual needs, preferences

and health goals. Moreover, contrary to what we have been told for so long, research has also shown that, compared to a traditional high- carbohydrate, moderate-protein, low-fat diet, a diet low in carbohydrate and higher in proportions of protein and fat is at least as, if not more so, effective for improving many health factors, which reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. This is making us rethink how we tackle and manage these major health challenges in our society today.