A ten-year study of 135,000 people spanning the globe has found evidence that diets high in carbohydrates are more dangerous to your health than diets high in fats. The study, known as the Prospective Rural Epidemiology (or PURE) study looked at the risk of death in subjects between the ages of 36 and 70 and found that those who ate high carb diets (where carbs represented more than 60% of energy intake) had a higher risk of death than those who ate a high fat diet (where fats represented more than 35% of energy intake). Diets with very low intake of fats were also linked to higher risk of death.

These results represent a sharp departure from conventional nutritional guidelines which are based on studies in higher-income countries in Europe and North America. Current guidelines call for 50-65% of daily calories to come from carbs and less than 10% from fats. The authors of the study recommend shifting these guidelines, particularly for lower income countries whose residents are more likely to eat diets high in carbohydrates. However, they caution that there is no evidence to support health benefits of very low carbohydrate diets–rather they encourage people to strive to get 50-55% of their daily calories from energy.

The argument between fat and carbs is ending: A study explores which is more likely to kill you. 

Key Points:

• Contrary to popular belief, people who have diets that are high in fat have a lesser risk of death than people who have high carbohydrate diets.
• Researchers stress that some carbohydrate intake is necessary to meet the body’s energy demands needed for physical activity.
• Diets that are very low in fat intake are associated with a higher risk of death than those that are high in fat intake.

It found that high fat diets, contributing about 35% of energy intake from both saturated and unsaturated fats, were associated with a lower risk of death. But a high carbohydrate diet, contributing more than 60%, was associated with a higher risk