Low-carb diets work.
That is pretty much a scientific fact at this point.
At least 23 high quality studies in humans have shown this to be true.
In many cases, a low-carb diet causes 2-3 times more weight loss as the standard low-fat diet that were still being told to follow (1, 2).
Low-carb diets also appear to have an outstanding safety profile. No serious side effects have been reported.
In fact, the studies show that these diets cause major improvements in many important risk factors (3).
Triglycerides go way down and HDL goes way up. Blood pressure and blood sugar levels also tend to decrease significantly (4, 5, 6, 7).
A high percentage of the fat lost on a low carb diet comes from the belly area and the liver. This is the dangerous visceral fat that builds up in and around the organs, driving inflammation and disease (8, 9, 10).
These diets are particularly effective for people with metabolic syndrome and/or type 2 diabetes. The evidence is overwhelming.
However, there is a lot of controversy about why these diets work.
People like to debate the mechanism, the stuff that is actually going on in our organs and cells that makes the weight go off.
Unfortunately, this is not fully known, and chances are that it is multifactorial as in, there are many different reasons why these diets are so effective (11).
In this article, I take look at some of the most convincing explanations for the effectiveness of low carb diets.
Read more:
Why Do Low Carb Diets Work? The Mechanism Explained - Healthline
