Research

Energy balance

Low-carbohydrate diets do not increase total energy expenditure (TEE) compared to high-carbohydrate diets when analyzed according to pre-registered protocols and accounting for energy conservation laws.

If you are trying to lose weight, switching to a low-carbohydrate diet will not give you a metabolic advantage in terms of burning more calories at rest or during activity compared to a high-carbohydrate diet, provided you eat the same number of calories. Focus on maintaining a caloric deficit rather than macronutrient composition for energy expenditure benefits.

StrongRefutesHIGH confidence
When the data of Ebbeling et al. were reanalyzed according to the original preregistered analysis plan, the effects of low-carbohydrate diets on TEE were not significant.
Kevin D. Hall et al. · International Journal of Obesity · 2019

Why this rating

The paper performs a rigorous re-analysis of raw data from a randomized controlled trial, checking against preregistered plans and physical laws.

Source

Do low-carbohydrate diets increase energy expenditure?

Kevin D. Hall et al. · International Journal of Obesity · 2019

DOI 10.1038/s41366-019-0456-3

narrative_review · n=162Cited 38×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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