Low fat diet vs low carb diet: which one is better for losing fat?
[Article updated: May 2020]
A new study [ 1 ] has apparently called into question everything we know about this subject!
In 2015, the journal " Cell Metabolism " published a study that should have been a game-changer. Why?
Because the findings of this study reported that contrary to current belief, a diet low in fat can lead to greater loss of body fat better than a diet low in carbohydrates (or carbohydrates).
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However, the findings of this study have been - for one reason or another - ignored! Why?
Perhaps because this revelation did not appeal to supporters of the low-carb diet and could jeopardize their entire arsenal of arguments.
How did this study go?
During the first period (i.e. the first two weeks), men saw their calorie intake reduced by about 30% due to the restriction of carbohydrates only (low carbohydrate diet).
In the second period (the next two weeks), the test conditions were reversed and the men switched to a low fat diet. Calorie intake was maintained regardless of the restricted nutrient (fat or carbohydrate).
In parallel, the researchers carried out daily monitoring of the amount of body fat burned by the participants.
Study results: is a low fat diet better?
Volunteers who followed a low-fat diet lost 89 grams per day of body fat while those who followed a low-carb diet lost 53 grams per day.
And contrary to the claims of followers of ketogenic diets, researchers found that insulin played a limited, if not insignificant, role in recorded fat loss.
Admittedly, the low-carbohydrate diet is generally less insulinogenic (and therefore leads to a greater amount of fat burned). However, the low fat diet caused the greatest loss of body fat.
This finding challenges the theory that high insulin production results in less loss of body fat and more storage of body fat.
Interpretation and limitations of the study
Two potential problems should be highlighted during this study.
On the one hand, the number of participants is very small (only 19 volunteers). However, it must be said that putting 19 obese people in a "metabolic kitchen" where everything they eat is monitored is an expensive process.
Second, the researchers made some mathematical projections on both those who ate a low-carb diet and those who ate a low-fat diet and attempted to calculate the result if the study was conducted. over a period of 6 months.
According to predictors, they concluded that following a low-fat diet during this time would have led to modestly better fat loss (around 3kg) than a low-carb diet.
“While the present study has demonstrated the theoretical possibility that isocaloric diets differing in carbohydrate and fat can lead to different body fat loss, the body takes action to minimize these differences. "
Therefore and if you give this study any credibility (and you should), you should reconsider your stance on dietary carbohydrates.
Ultimately, what matters most to losing (or gaining) body fat may well be what all dieticians were pointing out: Calories matter more than specific nutrients.
So the low carb diet doesn't work?
Still, one should be wondering why this low-carb diet works, since the results of this study showed that insulin does not play a critical role in fat loss, at least when it comes to carbohydrates. .
That said, this is not an invitation to underestimate the role of this substance. On the contrary, you should do your best to increase insulin sensitivity.
The more you do this the easier it will be to reduce your overall body fat not to mention the other health benefits you will gain from it.