Low carb vs low fat diet: which one is more effective for weight loss?
- Apurav Kumar
- Oct 25, 2022
- 4 min read
There are different diet plans for weight loss, low carb diets and low fat diets are also one of them. Both diet plans promise effective weight loss and a lot more health benefits, but a lot of people want to know that which diet plan is more better and give more rapid results. To know the difference between these two diet a lot of researchers have conducted study to know which one is more effective. So, here we discuss about both diet plans that which one is best for you.
But, before that let us know some basics things about both diet plans if you don't know how they work.
Low-Fat Diet
In a low-fat diet you are generally recommended to eat only 30% fat containing food in your regular diet, because fat provides more calories per gram as compare to protein and carbs, it provide around 9 calories per gram, whereas protein and carb provide only 4 calories per gram. So, by reducing the fat intake you can also reduce the daily calorie consumption and this eventually help you to lose weight.
Low-Carb Diet
In low carb diet you reduce the consumption of carbs. Generally, people follow ketogenic diet for that which is a low carb diet plan where you limit your carb intake to 5-10% of your total daily calories, which should also be reduced. In low carb diet you increasing the consumption of healthy fats like fish, eggs, nuts, high fat dairy, unprocessed oil and more. This change in your diet forces your body to use energy from stored fat, instead of glucose (which derived from carb containing foods), and that's how your body start burning fat, which help you to lose weight.
Which is More Effective?
There are lot of studies that were conducted to find out which diet plan is more effective and comes with more benefits for our health. And most of the studies found that low carb diet was more effective as compare to low fat diet plan, for short term.
A study conducted of 12 weeks with a group of people with excess weight, followed a low carb diet plan and lost an average of 21.8 pounds (9.9 kg), and people with low fat diet lost only 9 pounds. (1) However, when it comes to long term weight loss plan, both diet plans are around equally effective. (2)
When it comes to suppress appetite, studies generally shows that low carb diet decrease the feeling of hunger and improve focusing as compare to low fat diets, which makes it easier to follow a low carb diet plan. (3)
Low carb diets are also more effective in controlling blood sugar level, it is also beneficial for people with type 2 diabetes as it is more effective at controlling blood sugar, increase weight loss, and reduce insulin needs, as compare to low fat diets. (4)
So, overall we can say that ketogenic diet is more effective as compare to low fat diet, however, I mentioned above also that low carb diet can be more effective for short term results, that means you will get much better result with low carb diet as compare to low fat diet. If you follow any of the diet plan for a long time you may get same results from both diet plan. However, low carb diet can give you much better results.
Some of the major drawbacks and side effects
However, both diet plan can have a common side effect if you follow any of them for a long time, because in low carb diet you have to restrict carbs and in low fat diet you limit fats, due to which your body may lack in some essential nutrients, that can only be found in high carb or high fat containing foods.
Some other side effects of low fat diet can be:
It may cause more sensitivity to sunburn.
It will also cause increased craving due to low calorie intake.
That will also effect your mood.
Lack of fats can also cause poor vitamin absorption.
Side effects of low carb diet:
When you start following keto diet you may experience some problems such as headache, muscle cramps, constipation, weakness, bad breath, and fatigue.
However, these problems are not permanent, these symptoms may or may not be occur and it's totally normal. It happens because your body switches it's energy fuel, and start burning fat instead of glucose, and this state is known as ketosis. When your body enters the state of ketosis, you may face above problems for around 2-3 days to 1 week.

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