Research
Macro partitioning
The source of protein and fat in a low-carbohydrate diet (animal vs. plant) significantly influences mortality and CVD risk.
If you choose a low-carbohydrate diet, prioritize plant-based proteins and fats over animal sources. This may help reduce the increased mortality risk associated with animal-based low-carb diets.
ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Some studies suggested that low-carbohydrate diets might increase the risk of mortality and CVD in animal-based dietary patterns whereas they might decrease the risk in plant-based diets.
Why this rating
Based on subgroup analyses of observational studies; not the primary outcome of the meta-analysis.
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×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Long-term adherence to low-carbohydrate diets is associated with a significantly higher risk of all-cause mortality compared to high-carbohydrate diets.Moderate
- Low-carbohydrate diets are not significantly associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality or incidence in the long term.Moderate
Related findings · Macro partitioning
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- 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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