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Last month, the American College of Cardiology published a study that said diet badociated with a diet low in carbohydrate and having a heart condition called atrial fibrillation, or atrial fibrillation (AFib).
Low carb diets, such as the Keto, Paleo, Atkins or South Beach diets, are known for their quick weight loss because they reduce carbohydrates – and often increase fats.
This study covered 14,000 people between 1995 and 2016. Participants were asked to report their daily food intake by means of a questionnaire. The researchers then estimated how much of their daily calories were carbohydrates.
Among those who did not have AFIB at registration, 1,900 people were diagnosed later. The researchers then divided the participants into individuals with a daily carbohydrate intake of between 44.8% and 52.4% of carbohydrates and people with carbohydrate above or below that value.
Participants with lower than normal carbohydrate content were 18% more likely to develop atrial fibrillation than those with moderate carbohydrate intake and 16% more likely to develop atrial fibrillation than those with a high intake of carbohydrate. carbohydrates.
Why are we interested in AFib?
AFib is an abnormal heart rhythm that occurs when the upper chamber of the heart no longer beats on a regular basis, says Dr. Amin Al-Ahmad, cardiac electrophysiologist at the Texas Cardiac Arythmia Institute at St. David's Medical Center in Austin. Texas. Normally, the upper house beats then the lower house beats. In AFib, the upper chamber is no longer electrically organized and bombards the lower chamber with signals that make the lower house beat irregularly and quickly, Al-Ahmad explains.
This is important because AFib can cause rapid heart rate, irregular heart rate and symptoms such as shortness of breath, palpitations and fatigue. This puts people at risk for a blood clot in the upper chamber and stroke.
The causes are unclear, but they are badociated with age, hypertension and other types of heart problems, he says.
Sometimes people do not feel it or sometimes they run away and do not realize that they are getting tired, he says.
To treat AFib, you can use an anticoagulant to reduce the risk of a stroke or medication to slow the heart rate. Doctors can also perform ablation to place catheters in the heart to cauterize the areas responsible for atrial fibrillation.
"It's very treatable," says Al-Ahmad.
"It's not something you want to ignore for a long time," he adds. See your doctor in a day or two, but if you feel bad, seek immediate attention.
The researchers in this study were very cautious in stating that they had not found a direct cause between low carb diets and AFib, but that they had instead found an badociation .
The problem with a study like this, says Al-Ahmad, is that it relies on participants remembering what they ate and recording it accurately.
It also badumes that what you eat is the reason, while there may be other factors. "People who may follow this specific diet may also have a weight problem specifically badociated with AFib," he says.
"I would consider that it is interesting and perhaps useful to generate a hypothesis, but not necessarily in any way involving this type of causative regime or even badociated with AFib," he says.
Al-Ahmad recommends thinking about reducing rather than eliminating bad actors such as sugar. Keto, however, is effective at losing weight and this weight loss can offset the damage caused by the elimination of a food. If you can lose weight with a more moderate approach, it will be better, he says.
"All that is extreme is worrying," he says. "Trying to reach balance is more important."
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