You SHOULD be eating more carbs – cutting them out ‘is bad for your gut’

FOR so long, we've believed that cutting carbs is the key to fighting the flab.

Keto diets - high fat, low carb - have been all the rage, especially with celebrities like Conor McGregor saying that his amazing transformation was all down keto.

But in more recent times, more and more research has suggested that carbs are actually essential from a health perspective.

While no one is suggesting you start mainlining chips, scientists are convinced that having a moderate amount of foods like potatoes, bread and pasta might extend your life by up to four years.

And now, a new study suggests that consuming an insufficient amount of carbs can affect your gut health - which in turn, can up your risk of developing bowel cancer.

When gut bacteria process carbs, scientists from Wright State University in Ohio, say, they release short-chain fatty acids.

These acids help to reduce inflammation and the risk of colon (bowel) cancer - which is often highest in people who have a diet low in fibre (you get that from carbohydrates like vegetables and whole grains), and those who suffer from inflammation conditions like ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

This new study, published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, looked at the effects on an artificial gut of a balanced Western diet, and a fats-only one.

It found that switching from a balanced diet to a high-fat, no-carb regime increased the strains of bacteria that metabolise fatty acids but lowered the production of short-chain fatty acids and antioxidants responsible for fighting against DNA damage and ageing.

Changing to a fat-only diet, the authors said, "led to a substantial decrease in the production of [short-chain fatty acids] and antioxidants in the colonic region of the gut, which might potentially have negative health consequences on the host."

In other words, while high-fat, low-carb diets might be useful for burning fat, carbs can be useful in fighting against ageing and inflammation that may then disrupt bowel health.

But not everyone is convinced that a lack of carbs would have such disastrous effects.

"Diet, medication, lifestyle, stress can all affect our gut microbiome," nutritionist Sarah Flower told The Sun.

"A processed low-carb diet is not good, but a real food low-carb diet can be. Sugar and carbs negatively affect our gut bacteria.

"Low carb/keto done correctly should be full of good gut boosting foods, including fibre from the vegetables.

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"Most people think of Atkins or just a diet of meat and fat when they hear low-carb or keto but it is more Mediterranean style, real food, vegetables, nuts, seeds, good healthy fats, oily fish, meat, dairy — nothing more than a real food diet cutting out grains, sugars and all processed foods."

Sarah also said that when it comes to colon cancer, we often blame red meat as a big contributing factor, when in fact, she believes that it's how the meat has been processed rather than the meat itself that's to blame.

"If someone has a diet of processed meat, they will also be eating processed carbs, fats and sugars, so how can we point the finger at the meat only? Most low carbers only eat real food and nothing processed at all and this I firmly believe, is the key.

"The World Health Organization has recommended that we avoid processed meats due to an increased risk in colon cancer; however, the fault is not with the meat, but the processing, as well as the added fillers, chemicals, additives and sugars in the meat.

"Meat is not unhealthy; it is what we have done to the meat that makes it of poor quality. It also stands to reason that those who eat a lot of processed meats are also more likely to have a processed diet generally."

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But Sarah is clear that poor gut health has been known to be linked with the development of tumours.

A study earlier this year by the University of Leeds in 2018 compared the rates of distal bowel cancer (in the part of the bowel that stores faeces) in 32,000 women who took part in the study, which lasted for 17 years.

The researchers focused on rates of cancer in vegetarian and in meat and/or dairy diets and found that there was no evidence to link meat to an increase in colon or rectum cancer, but they also found that a vegetarian diet offered a protection against distal bowel cancer.

And you know what a vegetarian diet is often high in? Fibre.

So at the very least, make sure that you're really getting as many vegetables into your diet as possible - limiting the amount of processed grub you consume.

Carbohydrates aren't all made equal. Reduce the white breads and pastas and up the green, leafy veg and whole grain products.

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