Is there a conflict in heart uk's guidelines and the LCHF movement in Sweden?

[MikePollard]

There seems to be low carbohydrate high fat ((LCHF) revolution happening in Sweden. So much so that there is now a butter shortage. This seems to be at odds with HEART UK's dietary guidelines. I'm confused - could anybody shed some light on the subject?

[Aliwally]

Welcome to Health Unlocked offshoretinker. I didn't know anything about LCHF so have done a quick look up. It also ties in with Architect's weight loss plan..have you seen his latest blog?

I was interested to hear that it originated with helping diabetic patients to lose weight, but again it seems to be controversial.

I'm a great Wallander fan, books and original Swedish TV series, so have enjoyed all the Swedish surnames!

[Aliwally]

This diet seems to be really big news in Sweden, especially with treating people with type 2 diabetes (and Wallander has just been diagnosed with it in "One Step Behind!). Will watch the websites with healthy, open minded interest.

[MikePollard]

Anyone seen dietdoctor.com/lchf?

No mention of trans fats, and apparently there is now a butter shortage as lots of Swedes are eating saturated fats again!!!

[Hidden]

It's funny - I've been following nearly this diet for the last month without knowing about it. Only difference is I've had probably more wine that I should.

It does seem to promote weight loss (at least in me). It definitely made me feel fuller.

The key point of this diet amongst the cholesterol/heart disease theorists is that eating more saturated fat will increase cholesterol. Increasing cholesterol will lead to a higher chance of heart disease. If either of these two points can be shown not to be true - then the diet will be a success.

In the short term - if this diet loses weight and keeps it off - what harm can it do. As far as the food processing companies are concerned, this may hurt their profits but in the long run - a lot of people won't buy good quality food if there are cheaper, faster versions (the relationship between the richer and poorer in terms of heart disease is a good example - poorer people seem to get more heart disease for some reason. Could this be linked to the quality of the diet they eat rather than the components of the diet?)

[Aliwally]

Actually the thought of all that fat makes me feel a bit queasy and I find I get indigestion if I eat a lot of fatty food.

However, I need to shift about 5lb so maybe will try cutting down on pasta as I eat a lot. This would only be a short term measure though.

[Aliwally]

Last night I replaced pasta with broccoli and cauliflower and had the sauce with that. I enjoyed the different taste, in fact I did wonder why I eat such a lot of pasta as it is pretty tasteless and slimey, but maybe that's my cooking.

This is only a temporary weight loss measure and might not make any difference.