Low-Carb Lifestyle Piques Interest of Researchers

Researchers at SUNY Downstate want to know what real people following a low-carb diet do to maintain their lifestyle.

In an effort to reach those following a low or controlled-carb diet, the researchers have teamed up with an online support forum dedicated to the low-carb lifestyle - Active LowCarber Forums, to host an online survey of 27-questions that takes about 5-minutes to complete.

The questions are designed to give researchers insight into what real people eat on a low-carb diet in the real world. An approach, that until now, researchers investigating low-carb diets have not utilized as they've followed dieters in controlled settings. Reaching those in the "real world" is often cost prohibitive for researchers, but with the access provided by the internet, researchers can now interact with those following a low-carb lifestyle more easily.

With the unique setting of an online low-carb support forum, the researchers hope to reach the very population they'd like to understand better - the low-carb dieter losing weight and those who have lost weight and are maintaining their weight with a controlled-carb lifestyle. The survey is designed to allow users to answer questions and do so only once, so if you take the survey, you cannot take it again.

Dr. Richard Feinman will be leading the study and has designed questions related to eating habits, state of health, activity level and more. For those following a low-carb diet and lifestyle, this is an opportunity to help researchers understand the way of life you're passionate about.

As the start page for the survey notes, [c]arbohydrate restriction continues to be of importance as a method for weight reduction and treatment for diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Scientific studies, however, are largely restricted to an abstract, experimental setting and there is a lack of information as to what people really do on low carbohydrate diets and how they feel about them. This survey is designed to help provide this information. The purpose is neither to support nor to criticise any diet but only to provide information.

The survey is found online here: Nutritional Information from an Internet-based Support Group: What can we learn from the Active Low-Carber Forums?