| The least-cost low-carbohydrate diet is expensive. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 19083381 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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This article describes the use of operations research methods to study the minimum possible cost of a low-carbohydrate diet. The study compares this cost to the minimum cost of a diet with no limitation on carbohydrate. The rationale for this study is the popularity of the low-carbohydrate diets and their perceived high cost. The method used was an operations research approach to find a set of least cost diets, varying the required carbohydrate. This method was chosen to avoid potential concerns with real diets that may be nutritionally deficient or could be had for a lower cost. The major finding is that the cheapest possible low-carbohydrate diet costs about triple the cost of the cheapest diet with no constraint on carbohydrate. Furthermore, the minimum cost of a diet low in both carbohydrate and fat is 5 to 10 times the cost of the cheapest diet, depending on the relative amounts of these nutrients. As carbohydrate and fat are constrained, cost increases dramatically and nonlinearly. The study identifies which nutrients had the greatest effect on cost for a low-carbohydrate and low-fat diet. |
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Authors:
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John F Raffensperger |
Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Nutrition research (New York, N.Y.) Volume: 28 ISSN: 1879-0739 ISO Abbreviation: Nutr Res Publication Date: 2008 Jan |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2008-12-16 Completed Date: 2009-03-06 Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 8303331 Medline TA: Nutr Res Country: United States |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 6-12 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Department of Management, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. john.raffensperger@canterbury.ac.nz |
Export Citation:
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APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Benchmarking Costs and Cost Analysis Diet, Carbohydrate-Restricted / economics* Dietary Carbohydrates / administration & dosage, economics* Dietary Fats / administration & dosage, economics* Humans Nutritional Requirements* Nutritive Value Obesity / diet therapy* |
| Chemical | |
Reg. No./Substance:
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0/Dietary Carbohydrates; 0/Dietary Fats |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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