Skip to main content
Low-Carb, High-Protein Diets Increase Mortality Risk
Long-term results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) show that high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets increase mortality risk. Researchers assessed the diets of 22,944 healthy Greek adults. Those consuming diets highest in protein and lowest in carbohydrate had a 22 percent greater risk of death, compared with those consuming diets highest in carbohydrate and lowest in protein.
The study also dealt a blow to the idea of a “healthy Mediterranean diet”: Eighty percent of men and 75 percent of women in this population were overweight or obese.
References
- Trichopoulou A, Psaltopoulou T, Orfanos P, Hsieh C-C, Trichopoulos D. Low-carbohydrate-high-protein diet and long-term survival in a general population cohort. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2007;61:575-581.
