Hormonal
A low-glycemic load diet improves cardiovascular risk factors (HDL cholesterol and triglycerides) more effectively than a low-fat diet in the general obese population, regardless of insulin secretion status.
To improve your heart health markers like HDL cholesterol and triglycerides, focus on reducing the glycemic load of your diet (eating more nonstarchy vegetables, legumes, and whole fruits) rather than just cutting fat. You can include healthy fats like nuts and oils, which this approach allows, and see better improvements in these specific risk factors compared to a strict low-fat diet.
In the full cohort, plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations improved more on the low–glycemic load diet, whereas low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration improved more on the low-fat diet.
Why this rating
RCT design with masked assessment; consistent findings across the full cohort.
Source
Effects of a low-glycemic load vs low-fat diet in obese young adults: a randomized trial.
Cara B. Ebbeling et al. · PubMed · 2007
DOI 10.1001/jama.297.19.2092
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