Research

Energy balance

High-glycemic load (GL) diets reduce total energy expenditure (TEE) compared to low-carbohydrate or low-GL diets, even when calories and weight are matched.

When maintaining weight loss, choose lower-carbohydrate or lower-glycemic load foods to support a higher metabolic rate compared to high-carbohydrate diets.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
TEE decreased on the high-carbohydrate diet, remained the same on the moderate-carbohydrate diet, and increased on the low-carbohydrate diet, a difference of approximately 200 to 250 kcal d−1 in the intention-to-treat and per protocol models.
David S. Ludwig · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · 2023

Why this rating

Based on a specific 5-month feeding trial cited by the author, but the paper notes methodological limitations in long-term human trials.

Source

Carbohydrate-insulin model: does the conventional view of obesity reverse cause and effect?

David S. Ludwig · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · 2023

DOI 10.1098/rstb.2022.0211

narrative_reviewCited 16×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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