Research
Energy balance
High-glycemic load diets lower energy expenditure and increase hunger compared to low-glycemic load or low-carbohydrate diets, even when calorie intake is controlled.
If you feel constantly hungry or have low energy, consider that your diet might be slowing your metabolism. Switching from high-glycemic foods to lower-glycemic options or reducing total carbohydrates may help normalize your energy expenditure and reduce hunger.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Rodents fed high- vs low-GI diets controlled for macronutrients (carbohydrate, fat and protein) manifest progressive abnormalities in this sequence: hyperinsulinemia; increased adipocyte diameter and other anabolic changes; greater adiposity; lower energy expenditure; and finally, increased hunger.
Why this rating
Strong evidence in animal models; mixed and limited evidence in human feeding studies due to short duration.
Source
The Carbohydrate-Insulin Model of Obesity
David S. Ludwig et al. · JAMA Internal Medicine · 2018
DOI 10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.2933
narrative_reviewCited 427×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- High-glycemic load carbohydrates promote obesity by stimulating insulin secretion, which partitions calories into adipose tissue, thereby reducing circulating fuel availability, increasing hunger, and lowering energy expenditure.Moderate
- Individuals with high insulin secretion in response to carbohydrates are more likely to gain weight on high-glycemic load diets and benefit more from low-glycemic or low-carbohydrate diets.Moderate
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