Are Low-Carb Diets Healthy?

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If one considers the very low carbohydrate diets of the Innuits, the Maasai, and perhaps a few other indigenous cultures, the conclusion would be that "some" low carbohydrate diets can be followed long-term, and can promote long-term health.  There are also examples closer to home of individuals in the U.S. who were obese and diabetic who chose to go on a very low carbohydrate diet and stay on that diet and now report decades later they are still on it, and still in much better health than before they followed such a diet.

Having said that, I would also add the important caveat that to be as healthy as a Northern Innuit, or a Maasai warrior on their very low-carbohydrate diets, one might also have to agree to spend many hours/day in a kayak or dog sled, or shepherding their animals across miles of open terrain. I am quite certain that one could not eat like an Innuit or Maasai while sitting in front of the television and enjoy the same absence of chronic diseases that these indigenous populations have exhibited on their traditional diets.

I am also well aware that for many Americans (and others), approaches to dieting are often short-sighted, uninformed, and not consistent with long-term health.  The original public health message of "low-fat" was well intentioned, but it was difficult to imagine at the time it was started that this particular health campaign would lead to the explosive growth of packaged, processed, high-calorie, high-added-sugar foods of low nutritional value that would be touted as "health foods" simply by virtue of their being "low-fat".  The same mistake can easily be made for "low-carb".

So, while I would agree that many approaches to "low-carb" would be unhealthy for long-term health, there is certainly room in the dietary habits of most people following a "western diet" to lower their carbohydrate intake substantially and improve their overall diet quality and health in the process - provided those carbohydrate-rich sources that are being reduced/eliminated are those providing the least nutritional value (e.g., soda, other beverages with added sugar, refined wheat products, low-fat/high sugar snack foods).  With this in mind, there are certainly some low(er) carbohydrate diets that would be good options.