COPD and carb intake

[5kgLifter]

I came across the following with regard to carbs and COPD, with the same sort of info on all similar sites with regard to carb intake and COPD due to the effects on oxygen and carbon dioxide and thought it may be of some interest to those interested in low carb diets.

Many are advised to reduce their carbs at night in order to make breathing overnight easier (saw that on another site) but it does make a lot of sense.

Here's just one link and an excerpt from it but there are many others for anyone wanting to research it further:



Nutrition and COPD - Dietary Considerations for Better Breathing



A July 1993 study in Chest found that a high-fat diet (55% fat) would be more beneficial to patients with COPD than a high-carbohydrate diet (55% carbohydrate) because it would decrease carbon dioxide production, oxygen consumption, and RQ, as well as improve ventilation. However, there is not a general consensus in the literature to universally recommend a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet, as it may not be necessary for stable patients and not all patients may be able to tolerate the potential side effects (eg, gastrointestinal and abdominal discomfort, belching, diarrhea). In addition, some patients may have a coexisting heart condition, which could make a high-fat diet contraindicated.6 In fact, 25% of COPD patients develop pulmonary hypertension due to low oxygen levels, which results in enlargement and thickening of the right ventricle of the heart, a condition known as cor pulmonale.

Therefore, according to the ADA’s Manual of Clinical Dietetics, it is best to replete energy needs but avoid overfeeding as “excess calories are more significant in the production of carbon dioxide than the carbohydrate to fat ratio.” Because both overfeeding and carbohydrate metabolism produce high carbon dioxide levels and expelling excess carbon dioxide puts an enormous burden on the already-stressed lungs, it is best to meet but not exceed energy needs to keep both carbon dioxide and RQ levels in check.

[BendtheBar]

My sinuses are better on low carbs, and my wife says my snoring decreases noticeably.

I believe the tie in between carbs and cell inflammation (Brute can comment on this) might be the tie-in here.