Sources: weight lost

Need more low-carb diet versus something else comparisons? You're in luck. A new study found that following a low-carb diet may be better for lowering blood pressure than taking an over-the-counter weight loss medication and sticking to a low-fat diet.

Both plans showed similar drops in weight and improvements in other health factors, but the low-carb diet came out ahead in lowering blood pressure. Researchers placed participants in two groups — one consisted of 57 people who ate a low-carbohydrate diet and were allowed to consume unlimited amounts of meat and eggs, but initially only 20 grams per day of carbohydrates (they could add a few extra grams if the cravings got too bad).

The other 65-person group was limited in the intake of fat per day — 30% or less of total calories, as well as restricted consumption of saturated fat (10% or less) and cholesterol (300 mg. or less). In addition the group took the over-the-counter weight loss drug orlistat. The study lasted for 48 weeks.

The low-carb group dropped an average of 5.9 points of systolic blood pressure (the top number that measures the heart's contractions) and 4.5 points on diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number measuring the heart at rest, between heartbeats). The other group dropped 1.5 points on systolic and 0.4 points on diastolic. More people in the low-carb group decreased their blood pressure medication.

On most other results the two groups were similar — the low-carb set lost about 9.5% of body weight while the medication/low-fat diet group lost about 8.5%, and cholesterol and trigylceride levels improved.

In the study, researchers said they thought the two groups would show similar drops in blood pressure since both lost about the same amount of weight, and because orlistat has been shown to slightly lower blood pressure. They speculate that the low-carb diet may have a diuretic effect, or that the lower serum insulin levels that occur with a low-carb diet could have an effect on sodium retention.

The study was published in the January 25th issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

– Jeannine Stein

Photo credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

But What About Senator Gillibrand's Baby Weight??

“Like every new mom, it takes time, it takes time, to get back in shape and be yourself again,” Gillibrand told the New York Daily News. And then she Revealed Her Diet Secrets!

You know how yesterday we suggested that, just maybe, the culture was a leetle too interested in strangers' “baby weight?” Like, more interested in “losing the weight” and “regaining the body” than, say, an upcoming primary battle? Well. No one stands corrected.

On the one hand, as long as we must prolong this absurd conversation, at least Gillibrand's comments on the subject are relatively wholesome. “Most of us are not Heidi Klum and Angelina Jolie who look great the next day – for me, it took a good year and a half to get off all my Henry weight.” (Henry is her baby. Elsewhere in the article she refers to her “Theo weight,” too. This is either better or worse than any alternative we've heard.) But, that said, the Senator still works out five mornings a week, runs and plays tennis.

The senator said she began focusing on her diet in August when she finished breast-feeding Henry. She eats fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and fish, aiming for roughly 1,200 calories a day. “I write down everything I eat,” she said.

Her goal, she says, is to “get back into the wardrobe she used before having her oldest child, Theo, 6.” For a woman who's achieved this level of public success, I'm guessing she can achieve this, too – if she wants. It's somewhat dispiriting that given a public platform, such a visible woman not merely plays into a post-weight hysteria which is frankly none of anyone's business and has even less to do with politics than Hollywood, but also subscribes to success-as-dress-size rather than general health and well-being. And calorie-counting, for my money, should be banned from print. We know people gain weight when they have babies; that's Nature. The amazing thing is that each instance of public gain and loss is still met with wonder and fascination. And that this piece will likely influence at least one voter.

Sen. Gillibrand Shedding Pounds – But Politics Is Not Reason For Fitness Kick, She Says

Send an email to Sadie Stein, the author of this post, at Sadie@jezebel.com.

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