The Study
Carbohydrate Restriction has a More Favorable Impact on the Metabolic Syndrome than a Low Fat Diet
This study shows that people who ate fewer carbs had better blood sugar and cholesterol levels after 12 weeks, compared to those who ate low-fat food. But we don’t know for sure if the study was fair or random, so we can’t say for certain that cutting carbs caused the improvements — it might just be linked.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Scientists wanted to see if eating fewer carbs or less fat was better for people with unhealthy blood fat levels. They gave two groups different diets for 12 weeks and checked their blood and weight.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 540 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes, these changes suggest the body was handling sugar and fat much better, which could lower the risk of diabetes and heart disease.
- 2The low-carb group had 50% lower insulin, 12% lower glucose, lost 10% of their weight, and had much better blood fat levels than the low-fat group.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Lipids
Year
2009
Authors
J. Volek, S. Phinney, C. Forsythe, E. Quann, R. Wood, M. Puglisi, W. Kraemer, D. Bibus, M. Fernández, R. Feinman
Related Content
Claims (5)
Cutting carbs works better than cutting fat if you're trying to manage insulin-related health problems like type 2 diabetes.
If you're an adult with a certain type of unhealthy cholesterol, cutting carbs while eating fewer calories might help you lose more weight and body fat over 3 months than cutting fat instead — the type of food you restrict could matter for how your body changes.
For adults with unhealthy cholesterol levels, cutting carbs while eating fewer calories seems to improve heart-related blood fats more than a low-fat diet over 12 weeks.
For adults with a certain type of unhealthy cholesterol and blood sugar issues, cutting carbs way down for 12 weeks might lower insulin and blood sugar more than a low-fat diet — meaning it could help control blood sugar better.
For adults with unhealthy cholesterol levels, cutting carbs and calories for 12 weeks might improve heart disease risk more than a low-fat diet, based on deeper blood fat measures.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.