Background:
Restricted carbohydrate diets remain among the most popular for weight loss and general health improvement. Recent evidence demonstrates that carbohydrate restricted diets are low in overall diet quality, yet their association with micronutrient inadequacy has not been well characterized at a population-level in adults in the United States.
Objective:
To evaluate the prevalence of not meeting daily micronutrient recommendations in US adults that met the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges and those who restricted carbohydrate intake to <45% energy, and to examine the effect of total fat and fat class on these results for the restricted carbohydrate group.
Design:
This study utilized 24-hour recall data on food and nutrient intake from respondents in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-2018.
Participants/Setting:
This study included 15 029 respondents who were aged 20 years and older, had complete and reliable nutrient intake data, and were not pregnant or breastfeeding.
Main Outcome Measures:
The main outcome was the prevalence of not meeting daily micronutrient recommendations based on Dietary Reference Intakes.
Statistical Analyses Performed:
The National Cancer Institute’s usual intake methodology was used to estimate usual dietary intake and the prevalence of the US adult population not meeting the Dietary Reference Intakes.
Results:
Compared with participants that met the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges, those that consumed restricted carbohydrate diets had greater prevalence of inadequacy (% <Estimated Average Requirement) for vitamin A (46.7% vs 33.6%), folate (12.9% vs 4.3%), vitamin C (42.5% vs 23.3%), vitamin D (64.6% vs 61.3%), magnesium (45.2% vs 41.3%), and iron (3.0% vs 1.3%), and lower prevalence of inadequacy for zinc (8.1% vs 12.2%) and vitamin B12 (1.7% vs 2.8%; P < .05 for all comparisons). Restricted carbohydrate diet consumers had a lower likelihood of exceeding the Adequate Intake for vitamin K (57.8% vs 67.6%) and potassium (32.1% vs 39.2%; P < .001 for both), higher likelihood of exceeding the Adequate Intake for choline (16.9% vs 5.6%; P < .001), and a greater proportion exceeded the Chronic Disease Risk Reduction Intake for sodium (92.1% vs 88.5%; P < .001). Fat amount and class in those consuming restricted carbohydrate diets modified many of these associations, but the effects were heterogenous across micronutrients.
Conclusion:
This study shows that there are different types of restricted carbohydrate diets that can be characterized by fat amount and class, each with their own association with micronutrient intake. This information can be used by clinicians to provide more targeted dietary counseling to their patients who restrict carbohydrates, depending on the amount and type of fat they consume.
This research was supported by IAFNS Carbohydrates and Lipids Committees.