Research

Macro partitioning

Long-term adherence to low-carbohydrate diets is associated with a significantly higher risk of all-cause mortality compared to high-carbohydrate diets.

If you are following a low-carbohydrate diet, be aware that current observational evidence suggests it may increase your risk of dying from any cause compared to diets higher in carbohydrates. This risk appears to be driven by the source of nutrients (e.g., animal proteins and fats vs. plant sources). Consider reviewing your diet's composition and consulting a healthcare provider to balance short-term metabolic benefits with long-term survival data.

ModerateRefutesMEDIUM confidence
The risk of all-cause mortality among those with high low-carbohydrate score was significantly elevated: the pooled RR (95% CI) was 1.31 (1.07–1.59).
Hiroshi Noto et al. · PLoS ONE · 2013

Why this rating

Meta-analysis of observational studies; high precision but potential for residual confounding and publication bias.

Source

Low-Carbohydrate Diets and All-Cause Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies

Hiroshi Noto et al. · PLoS ONE · 2013

DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0055030

Meta-analysis · 17 studiesCited 229×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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