Research
Hormonal
Men experience larger reductions in appetite ratings (hunger, being bothered by hunger, wanting to eat, thoughts about food) compared to women during a 2-year weight loss diet, regardless of whether they follow a low-carb or low-fat diet.
If you are a woman, you might find that hunger and thoughts about food return to baseline levels sooner (around 6 months) than men, who may experience reduced appetite for the full 2 years. This is a biological difference, not a failure of willpower.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
Compared to women, men reported larger decreases in hunger, being bothered by hunger, wanting to eat in response to seeing or smelling food, and thoughts about food.
Why this rating
RCT with 2-year duration, subjective measures.
Source
Change in Food Cravings, Food Preferences, and Appetite During a Low‐Carbohydrate and Low‐Fat Diet
Corby K. Martin et al. · Obesity · 2011
DOI 10.1038/oby.2011.62
rct · n=270Cited 186×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Prescribing a low-carbohydrate diet (LCD) for 2 years significantly reduces cravings for carbohydrates, sweets, and fast-food fats compared to a low-fat diet (LFD), and reduces preferences for high-carbohydrate and high-sugar foods.Good
- A low-carbohydrate diet (LCD) results in lower subjective hunger (being bothered by hunger) compared to a low-fat diet (LFD) over a 2-year period.Good
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