Research

Hormonal

Overweight adults with high baseline insulin secretion lose significantly more weight on a low-glycemic load diet compared to a high-glycemic load diet, whereas those with low insulin secretion show no significant differential benefit.

If you are overweight, standard weight loss advice might not be enough. Consider getting your insulin response tested. If you have high insulin secretion, a low-glycemic load diet (lower carbs, higher protein/fat) may help you lose more weight than a standard high-carb diet. If your insulin secretion is low, the type of glycemic load matters less.

ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Participants with high baseline INS-30 lost more weight if randomized to the low– glycemic load diet compared with the high– glycemic load diet (P < 0.05). The reverse was observed in the low–INS-30 group... but the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.25).
Anastassios G. Pittas et al. · Diabetes Care · 2005

Why this rating

Small sample size (n=32), short duration (6 months), and pilot nature limit generalizability, though the controlled feeding design is robust.

Source

A Low-Glycemic Load Diet Facilitates Greater Weight Loss in Overweight Adults With High Insulin Secretion but Not in Overweight Adults With Low Insulin Secretion in the CALERIE Trial

Anastassios G. Pittas et al. · Diabetes Care · 2005

DOI 10.2337/diacare.28.12.2939

rct · n=32Cited 163×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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