Very Low-Carb Diet Shows Greater Cardiometabolic Benefits Than Other Diets

THURSDAY, Sept. 3, 2026 (HealthDay News) — A very low-carbohydrate diet has greater cardiometabolic benefits, particularly in hepatic metabolic function, compared with matched 10 percent weight loss induced by other popular diets in people with metabolically unhealthy obesity, according to a study published online Aug. 27 in Cell Metabolism.

Max C. Petersen, M.D., Ph.D., from Washington University in St. Louis, and colleagues evaluated the cardiometabolic effects of moderate (~10 percent) weight loss induced by three popular diets with markedly different macronutrient composition. The analysis included 55 participants with metabolically unhealthy obesity randomly assigned to a very low-carbohydrate ketogenic, Mediterranean, or very low-fat plant-forward diet.

The researchers found that weight loss increased skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity by ~50 percent in all groups, but caused a twofold to threefold greater increase in hepatic insulin sensitivity in the very low-carbohydrate group compared with the other groups. The very low-carbohydrate group experienced the greatest decreases in intrahepatic triglyceride content, hepatic de novo lipogenesis, glycated hemoglobin, and 24-hour serial plasma glucose and insulin. There were no differences in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, or 24-hour plasma triglyceride concentrations between the groups.

“Many metabolically unhealthy patients also are candidates for GLP-1 medicines, which have been very useful tools for helping people lose weight,” Petersen said in a statement. “But our results show that choice of diet remains important because it has an impact on specific health outcomes that go beyond weight loss alone.”

One author disclosed financial ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text