Perhaps the NHS Eatwell plate is the right way to go.

Interesting! Makes me feel better about choosing not to go low carb for my intermittent fasting.

I have to disagree with the MSD article. It cites "extreme" low carb dieting - Atkins - which is almost no carb, and unsustainable in the long term.
And says:
"None of those studies prove that the carb content of people's diets was the key factor in longevity, Diekman stressed"

To give an opposing view, this is an article by Aseem Malhotra, who is one of the UK's leading cardiologists:
doctoraseem.com/the-truth-about-fat-and-sugar/
whose advice I find much nearer the truth.

Low carb eating is much advocated for diabetics, and the evidence is that it can:

lower their blood glucose to normal levels, putting their diabetes into remission

lose weight

lower cholesterol

lower blood pressure

I don't see how that can be unhealthy? The fact is, that the carb-laden western diet has resulted in an explosion of obesity, and diabetics.

The human race didn't evolve to each such large amounts of starchy foods that are part of the western diet as we know it.
Potatoes didn't enter the food chain until 500 years ago.

Wheat wasn't grown until the agricultural revolution about 10.000 years ago, and today's wheat bears no resemblance to the ancient strains grown originally.

Bottom line: if we all ate fewer high carb foods, there would be far less obesity, and diabetes, which would save the NHS about 10 billion pounds.

I agree, Nan. When I was teaching Food Technology we had to use the Eatwell Plate to demonstrate the correct proportions of each food group for a balanced diet.

The EP stated quite clearly to 'base your diet on starchy carbohydrates' which is misleading to young students who don't realise how much sugar some carbohydrate foods contain.

The study couldn't prove cause and effect is the only salient fact in the report Gonegirl. I'm afraid I used to teach nutrition based on the 'Eatwell Plate' as it was then called (it's now the Eatwell Guide). Since leaving teaching and hearing so much criticism of the NHS guidance I have invested a lot of time in researching the 'research' and am frankly horrified at what I have discovered.

In contrast read this:
The Low Carb Program developed by Diabetes.co.uk has been pivotal in making the case for a change in approach to dietary advice.
In just under two years, the Low Carb Program has a demonstrated cost saving of £835 per person, per year, for each person that completes the program through diabetes medication deprescription alone. So far more than 270,000 have signed up and taken part in the initiative. Results show that people who complete the program reduce HbA1c by 1.2 per cent (13mmol/mol), lose seven per cent of their body weight on average and one in four people ‘reserved’ or put their type 2 diabetes into remission. Quote from Diabetes Times.

But rice is a carbohydrate and you rarely see a fat Asian except those who eat a western diet and they eat rice rice and more rice

What about Kim Jong Un?

Not that anybody needs reminding

He’s a rich man probably following a very western diet probably had the same cook as his best friend over the pond

Although now there is evidence based on a very large study recently in the Lancet which says that low carb diets cause an earlier death as they are less protective against heart disease, stroke and cancer

I agree about rice, BlueBelle. It's gluten free and I have a thing about gluten being the root of many evils.

Rice v pasta for instance?

But rice is a carbohydrate and you rarely see a fat Asian except those who eat a western diet and they eat rice rice and more rice

And Asians are very prone to Diabetes...

I think we have to draw a clear distinction between a low carb diet and very low carb diet.

Many in the U.K. actually eat a very high carb diet indeed. Too many sugars especially, the worst kind of carbs. These contribute to type 2 diabetes and all the associated health risks. People just don’t get it. An obese relative tells me she doesn’t eat sugar. She means she doesn’t take it in tea and coffee!

She tucks into biscuits, cakes and fruit juices.

So if she cut these out or even down for a start she’d be on a lower carb diet for a start. Then there’s breakfast. Toast and cereal! Lunch sandwiches! Dinner loads of potatoes or pasta or rice.

I once saw a man in a restaurant asking for chips with his spaghetti bolognese ?

I define that as all high carb and suggest that low carb just means cutting down on all these and substituting more imaginative alternatives.

Absolutely, Anja.

I completely agree Anja and some other posters on here that UK diet is far too high in sugar and carbs, and that the epidemic of diabetes type 2 must be more of a risk to a healthy long life, that cutting down on carbs. I was told that I was pre diabetic but I had a normal BMI. I cut down on carbs, lost a stone and am out of the pre diabetic zone. I eat a healthy diet with plenty of veg, nuts, meat and fish and some carbs but fewer than before. I do not intend to increase carb intake and become diabetic.

I m not disagreeing about the U.K. diet at all but the problem is when there is a whole regime on a low carbs diet people tend to cut them out altogether and they are useful
It’s about balance

I’d gues BB that for every one person on a no carb there are 99 on a high carb one

BB. I think it's practically impossible to cut out carbs completely, and it wouldn't be sustainable long term.

It is low-carb not no carb. So many of these scare stories are based on the old-style Atkins diet.
In our low-carb diet, the carbs come from lots of vegetables, a slice of spelt bread a day and occasional use of pulses. We eat fruit in moderation. We never eat cakes, biscuits or refined sugar and don't have fruit juice. We eat moderate amounts of meat, fish and dairy. We have puddings (mostly a dark chocolate mousse) as a very rare treat. We enjoy a glass of wine.
This way of eating has kept us in excellent health and at target weight for nearly five years. OH has come out and stayed out of pre-diabetes and I have been able to stop taking blood pressure tablets.
Our doctor is delighted. Why would we change?

Low carb eating is much advocated for diabetics, and the evidence is that it can...etc
Just to be clear nanthewiser these benefits only apply to type 2 diabetes.

Otherwise I agree with you.

Having worked for years in a deprived area where the majority ethnic origin was South Asian, I have to disagree with you rarely see a fat Asian. Obesity, and all its attendant problems, is a major concern there, and the local health authority has set up several initiatives in the neighbourhood to promote healthy eating and exercise. This is an area where traditional food certainly is still the norm, though the extra weight probably comes more from ghee and sugar than the rice!

www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/medical/south-asian-background

As usual, the article has a scare-mongering title.
It seems to me that this is the important message, but it’s buried amongst the waffle.
Dr. Todd Hurst is a cardiologist at Banner University Medicine Heart Institute, in Phoenix. Like Diekman, he said the findings do not prove cause and effect. On a broader level, Hurst said, "I think the focus on macronutrients in the diet is misguided." Macronutrients include carbs, protein and fat. And that information alone, Hurst said, says little about the quality of the diet. A carb-rich diet full of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds is much different from a high-carb diet loaded with processed foods, he pointed out. Similarly, a low-carb diet that has a variety of whole foods differs from one based on meat and butter. "I tell my patients there is no single 'healthy' diet," Hurst said. Instead, he suggests they avoid processed foods and get plenty of nutrient-rich whole foods