Randomised Controlled Trials Of A Year or More (RCTs)

Comparing Low-Carb Diets of Less Than 130g Carbohydrate per day to Low-Fat Diets of Less Than 35% Fat of Total Calories of a Year or More

Why are randomised controlled trials important?

Currently, a lot of nutrition science is based on observational data through epidemiology, which presents association but not causation. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are the gold standard in evidence because they help establish cause and effect. When looking at nutrition science it’s important to acknowledge whether a study is based on association or causation. In addition, the RCTs referenced below were longer than 12 months in duration. For a summary table of all available RCTs, please click here.

Key
^ = Greater Weight Loss, * = Significantly Greater Weight Loss Between Groups

Time Frame & Links	Low-Carb (LC) Weight Loss	Low-Fat (LF) Weight Loss	Participants (LC v LF)
1) 12 Months	4.3kg^	2.5kg	20 v 17
2) 12 Months	4.7kg^*	2.2kg	68 v 61
3) 2 Years	5.5kg^*	3.3kg	83 v 94
4) 12 Months	14.5kg^	11.5kg	33 v 36
5) 24 Months	2.34kg	2.97kg^	31 v 30
6) 12 Months	5.6kg^*	1.4kg	59 v 60
7) 12 Months	3.1kg	3.1kg	47 v 49
8) 2 Years	6.34kg	7.37kg^	154 v 153
9) 24 Months	1.5kg^	0.2kg	28 v 40
10) 1 Year	13.7kg	13.7kg	55 v 51
11) 1 Year	5.1kg^	3.1kg	62 v 64
12) 1 Year	2.1kg	3.0kg^	40 v 40
13) 12 Months	11.8kg^*	6.9kg	55 v 55
14) 1 Year	2.9kg	3.7kg^	30 v 30
15) 52 Week	9.8kg	10.1kg^	41 v 37
16) 18 Months	5.0kg^	2.4kg	32 v 33
17) 12 Months	7.9kg^*	1.7kg	16 v 18
18) 2 Years	6.8kg^	6.6kg	33 v 28
19) 12 Months	6.0kg^	5.3kg	304 v 305
20) 18 Months	2.76kg^*	0.71kg	43 v 42
21) 12 Months	9.3kg^*	5.8kg	76 v 64
Results:	14/21 LC Are > LF	5/21 LF Are > LC	1310(LC) v 1307(LF)
	7/21 LC Are Sig.	0/21 LF Are Sig.	2 RCTs Are Equal