1971 low-carb vs very-low-carb study

wabmester

There are very few studies I've found that compare low-carb to very-low-carb diets, and all that I found show essentially no difference in weight loss.

Until now! Well, sort of.

This 1971 study compared 104g, 60g, and 30g/d carbs over 9 weeks (with a 1-week vacation break). Same calories and same protein. Only fat was varied.

The 30g group lost more weight and more of it was fat. Interestingly, they used ketostix to measure ketones in the urine. The 30g had high levels in the urine the entire period, but the two other groups stopped showing ketones in the urine later in the study.

There's some good data in here. My only issue is the sample size. Only 2-3 guys in each arm of the study.

The differences in weight loss look significant if you look at the averages, but not if you look at the individuals. For example, the greatest weight loss in the 104g group was 14.52kg (that represents 1/2 of the subjects in that group), which was greater than 1/3 of the 30g group (12.25kg).

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/24/3/290

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macchiatto

Interesting! Thanks for posting!

GaleHawkins

Thanks for sharing the link.