*Corresponding Author:
Alan M Preston, PhD,
Dept Biochemistry Univ Puerto Rico, Med Sci Campus San Juan, PR 00936, USA
E-mail: alan.preston@upr.edu
To answer this question, let us: 1- use actual examples of each type of diet 2- determine the HEI of each and 3-identify factors that produce the differences.
Composition of Representative Diets
Table 1 shows a thumb-nail sketch of a low fat, high carbohydrate, medium protein diet (Lo-Fat) and a high fat, low carbohydrate, medium protein diet (Hi-Fat). The meals were transcribed from authentic commercial diet plans which list full ingredients and portion sizes [1,2].
Table 1: Thumbnail Sketch of Meals.
*Supplement: Water, Sodium. Potassium, Magnesium
Determination of HEI’s
Tables 2 and 3 show values from the first and the latest editions of the HEI. It should be mentioned that the 1995 version was formulated on the basis of total caloric intake while the 2015 edition is adjusted to 1000 Kcal intake [3].
Table 2: Components of the HEI -1995 [4].
*Portion size adjusted for caloric intake of 1,700 Kcal
Table 3: Components of the HEI -2015 [5].
These results show that the HEI’s consistently show high values for a Lo-Fat diet compared to much lower values for the Hi-Fat diet.
Factors Causing Differences in the Diets
Components of the HEI specify both foods and nutrients to be consumed in abundant amounts and those to be consumed in moderation. This Lo-Fat diet is congruent with these recommendations with the exception of the meat category (this was a vegetarian diet) so will always have a high point value. On the other hand, the standard Hi-Fat diet requires minimum carbohydrate and maximal fat [6]. Consequently, most fruits which have natural sugar content as well as starchy vegetables and whole grains are banned with the consequent loss of 20-25 points. High fat content is often associated with increased cholesterol and saturated fat which results in another 15-20 point reduction. Finally to prevent electrolytic imbalance, ketogenic diets require sodium supplementation which diminishes the HEI by another 10 points or all toll, a reduction of 45-55 points.
Therefore the answer to “Does the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) In- trinsically Favor Low Fat Diets while Stacked Against those of High Fat? “ is “YES.”
Caveats
This conclusion will hold true for the standard ketogenic diet but may be less so with modified keto- diets such as the Mediterranean or restricted types [7]. Likewise the Lo-Fat diet may be non-vegetarian and incorporate limited amounts of lean meat and seafood [8].
References
- Ornish D (1982) Stress, diet and your New York, NY. Holt, Rine- hart and Winston 318-322.
- Gregory R (2018) 21-day ketogenic diet weight loss Em- eryville, CA. Rockridge Press 68-69.
- Guenther PM, Reedy J, Krebs-Smith SM (2008) Development of the Healthy Eating Index-2005. J Am Diet Assoc 108: 1896-1901.
- Kennedy ET, Ohls J, Carlson S, Fleming K (1995) The Healthy Eating Index: Design and applications. J Am Diet Assoc 95: 1103-1108.
- Krebs-Smith SM, Pannucci TE, Subar AF, Kirkpatrick SI, Lerman JL, et (2018) Update of the Healthy Eating Index: HEI-2015. J Acad Nutr Diet 118: 1591-1602.
- Paoli A, Rubini A, Volek J, Grimaldi KA (2013) Beyond weight loss: A review of the therapeutic uses of very-low-carbohydrate (ketogenic) Eur J Clin Nutr 67: 789-796.
- Pérez-Guisado J, Muñoz-Serrano A, Alonso-Moraga Á (2008) Spanish Ketogenic Mediterranean diet: A healthy cardiovascular diet for weight Nutr J 7: 30.
- Truswell AS (1982) Pop diets for weight reduction. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 285: 1519-1520.
Citation: Preston AM (2021) Does the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) Intrinsically Favor Low Fat Diets while Stacked Against those of High Fat. J Nutr Food Sci 4: 028.
Copyright: © 2021 Preston AM. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and re- production in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
