Many readers have probably heard about the 20 alleged benefits of a low-carb diet, but Geezer suspects that fewer know about an unfortunate risk of the low-carb life that was recently revealed in a Harvard Medical School study: a low-carbohydrate. high-protein diet significantly increases the buildup of plaque in the heart’s arteries, which is a
leading cause of heart attack and stroke.
A Harvard Med School press release reports that the scientists fed mice a low-carb diet for twelve weeks, then took a good look at the blood vessels in and around their hearts. Consistent with experience in humans, the mice fed the low-carb diet gained 28 percent less weight than mice fed a typical Western diet, but the low-carb rodents showed a significantly greater degree of atherosclerosis, as measured by plaque accumulation: 15.3 percent compared with 8.8 percent among the Western diet group. The findings also showed that the diet led to an impaired ability to form new blood vessels in tissues deprived of blood flow, as might occur during a heart attack.
Read more from Harvard Med School.
More from SportsGeezer on low-carb diets.