Research

Macro partitioning

A low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet may increase low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc) levels, which is a potential adverse effect compared to a control diet.

Be aware that switching to a low-carb, high-fat diet might increase your LDL cholesterol levels. However, this should be viewed in the context of improved triglycerides and HDL, which are better predictors of heart disease risk. Consult a healthcare provider if you have a history of lipid disorders.

ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Relative to control, the intervention group showed... a small, likely harmful effect for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
Caryn Zinn et al. · Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism · 2017

Why this rating

Observed in the same RCT, but the effect was small and the clinical significance is debated.

Source

A 12-week low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet improves metabolic health outcomes over a control diet in a randomised controlled trial with overweight defence force personnel

Caryn Zinn et al. · Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism · 2017

DOI 10.1139/apnm-2017-0260

rct · n=41Cited 31×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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