Research
Macro partitioning
Replacing carbohydrate with protein in a low-fat diet (up to 25% energy) improves weight loss outcomes compared to high-carbohydrate low-fat diets.
If you are following a low-fat diet, increasing protein to 25% of your energy intake (replacing some carbs) can help you lose more weight. This was shown to be safe for kidney and bone health in obese patients over 6 months.
LimitedSupportsMEDIUM confidence
one intervention study has shown that an ad libitum low-fat diet where carbohydrate was replaced by protein produced more weight loss after 6 months (8.1 v. 5.9kg).
Why this rating
Based on one clinical trial (Skov et al. 1999b), categorized as 'B' evidence.
Source
Low-fat diets and energy balance: how does the evidence stand in 2002?
Arne Astrup et al. · Proceedings of The Nutrition Society · 2002
DOI 10.1079/pns2002149
narrative_reviewCited 107×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Sugar-sweetened beverages promote weight gain more effectively than solid sugar or artificial sweeteners due to poor compensation of liquid calories.Limited
- Ad libitum low-fat diets (<30% energy from fat) produce significant weight loss (3-4 kg) in overweight individuals through spontaneous reduction in energy intake, with efficacy positively correlated with the magnitude of fat reduction and initial body weight.Weak
Related findings · Macro partitioning
- Total daily protein intake of 1.6 g/kg/day is sufficient for maximizing resistance training-induced muscle gains, with an upper confidence interval of 2.2 g/kg/day.Strong
- Resistance exercise training combined with sufficient dietary protein intake acts synergistically to maximize skeletal muscle hypertrophy, with protein intake saturating around 1.6 g/kg/day for general populations and potentially requiring 2.0-2.2 g/kg/day for resistance-trained individuals.Strong
- Trans fats should be completely eliminated from the diet, as they increase LDL cholesterol, decrease HDL cholesterol, and are directly associated with increased coronary risk.Strong
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