By Sam Blanchard Senior Health Reporter For Mailonline
Published: 14:00 BST, 20 June 2019 | Updated: 14:30 BST, 20 June 2019
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Eating a low-carb diet could make you healthier even if you don't lose weight because of it, a study has found.
Researchers discovered people could reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke simply by cutting down on carbohydrates.
Metabolic syndrome, a combination of high blood pressure, obesity and high levels of fat and sugar in the blood, could be reversed by the diet change.
And people may reap the benefits of eating healthier even if they ate the same amount of calories and didn't shed any weight, the study added.
A low carb diet is one in which carbohydrate heavy foods such as potatoes, pasta, cereals and processed food may be replaced with more fruit, vegetables, meat and nuts (stock image)
Researchers at Ohio State University studied 16 people with metabolic syndrome – the common condition affects around a third of American adults and a quarter of Britons.
People with a waist measurement larger than 37 inches (94cm) for men or 31.5 inches (80cm) for women are at a higher risk of having metabolic syndrome.
A diagnosis is usually made if someone has three of five main signs including the large waist size, high fat in the blood, blood pressure above 140/90mmHg (120/80 is the upper end of normal) or insulin resistance.
But in their study the Ohio scientists found metabolic syndrome was reversed in more than half of people who changed their diets.
This reversal was seen in five men and four women, even though none of them lost weight.
'There's no doubt that people with metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes do better on low-carb diets,' said Professor Jeff Volek.
Metabolic syndrome is a group of
