Low-Carb Diet Beats Meds for Lowering Blood Pressure

In a duel of newly diminished waist-sizes, researchers at Duke University Medical Center put a low-fat diet up against the widely-used weight-loss drug orlistat, the active ingredient in GlaxoSmithKline's Alli, and in Roche's Xenical. What did they find? No difference in weight loss between the two efforts, but a major difference in the lowering of blood pressure. DukeHealth.org reports that in a one year study of 146 patients, nearly half (47 percent) of the low-carbohydrate group had
their blood pressure medication decreased or discontinued, while only 21
percent of the orlistat plus low-fat diet group experienced a reduction
in medication use. Want more reasons to think twice about taking orlistat? Read Tara Parker-Pope's column on the drug in the Wall Street Journal.

Read more about the research above  from  DukeHealth.org.