Effects of Carbohydrate Deprivation

To the Editor: Muller, Faloona and Unger1 reported the response of plasma glucose, insulin and glucagon levels in normal subjects after carbohydrate deprivation. They noted that plasma glucose and insulin levels were decreased whereas glucagon levels were increased. However, all these subjects lost weight (from 0.5 to 3.5 kg per week), suggesting that all subjects were studied during caloric deprivation as well as carbohydrate deprivation. Previous studies by this group2 of these measurements during total starvation demonstrated the same changes, but to a greater degree. It would seem tenuous to ascribe the changes noted during “carbohydrate deprivation” to this carbohydrate.