Weight loss occurs in the short term, but not enough is known to recommend long term use
After health professionals have promoted a low fat, high carbohydrate model of eating for more than 20 years, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Australia (as elsewhere) has climbed.1 Very few people are able to attain and maintain a truly low fat eating plan, but that has not stopped the low fat orthodoxy being blamed for the obesity epidemic.2 Yet, it is not sufficient to focus on a single aspect of diet — low fat diets are not intrinsically “healthy”, especially if they contain high levels of simple sugars, low levels of complex carbohydrates and are nutrient poor.
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- 1 Department of Medicine, Monash University, Clayton, VIC.
- 2 Department of Public Health, Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA.
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