Past Studies
View the past studies that our team has conducted and how they can help with weight loss maintenance.
The Goal Behind our Nutrition Studies
Our team has conducted several studies that demonstrate the benefits of dietary carbohydrate restriction and low glycemic load diets for weight loss and weight loss maintenance, metabolic health, and endocrine health. These studies indicate that body fat amount and location can be altered in a desirable manner that is beneficial to health simply by changing the composition of the diet in a way that alters insulin.
Low Glycemic Diet in Healthy Adults
Among healthy young adults with overweight or obesity, we compared a low-glycemic diet to a low-fat diet both under weight-stable conditions and during weight loss. A low-glycemic diet is a diet that results in relatively low blood sugar and relatively low blood insulin. This study revealed that:
- Visceral fat was selectively depleted in the absence of weight loss in participants provided with a low glycemic (but not a low fat) diet.
- During weight loss, more fat was lost (but more lean mass was retained) with a low-glycemic diet when compared to a low-fat diet.
Black individuals lost more body fat on a low-glycemic diet than on a low-fat diet. This effect of diet was not seen in white participants, who as a group, show lower post-meal circulating insulin.
Linked Articles
Goss AM, Goree LL, Ellis AC, Chandler-Laney PC, Casazza K, Lockhart ME, Gower BA. Effects of diet macronutrient composition on body composition and fat distribution during weight maintenance and weight loss. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2013 Jun;21(6):1139-42.
Gower BA, Goss AM. A lower-carbohydrate, higher-fat diet reduces abdominal and intermuscular fat and increases insulin sensitivity in adults at risk of type 2 diabetes. J Nutr. 2015 Jan;145(1):177S-83S.
Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
Among women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), we compared a low-glycemic diet to a low-fat diet under weight-stable conditions. This study revealed that:
- Women with polycystic ovary syndrome showed greater improvement in metabolic and reproductive-endocrine health when provided with a low-glycemic diet compared to a low-fat diet. Insulin sensitivity and beta-cell function improved on the low glycemic diet, but did not change with the low-fat diet. Serum testosterone declined on the low-glycemic diet but did not change on the low-fat diet.
- Visceral fat and ectopic muscle fat were selectively depleted in the absence of weight loss when participants were provided with a low glycemic (but not a low fat) diet. Ectopic fat, which develops in organs and tissues such as liver and muscle, is undesirable and leads to chronic disease.
Linked Articles
Favourable metabolic effects of a eucaloric lower-carbohydrate diet in women with PCOS. Gower BA, Chandler-Laney PC, Ovalle F, Goree LL, Azziz R, Desmond RA, Granger WM, Goss AM, Bates GW. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2013 Oct;79(4):550-7.
Changes in Ghrelin and Glucagon following a Low Glycemic Load Diet in Women with PCOS. Hoover SE, Gower BA, Cedillo YE, Chandler-Laney PC, Deemer SE, Goss AM. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2021 Apr 23;106(5):e2151-e2161.
Goss AM, Chandler-Laney PC, Ovalle F, Goree LL, Azziz R, Desmond RA, Wright Bates G, Gower BA. Effects of a eucaloric reduced-carbohydrate diet on body composition and fat distribution in women with PCOS. Metabolism. 2014 Oct;63(10):1257-64.
Children with Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
In children and adolescents with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), we compared a low-glycemic diet to a low-fat diet without restricting calories. This study revealed that:
- A moderately carbohydrate restricted diet administered ad libitum depleted liver fat in children with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
- Even though diets were not energy restricted, children who consumed the low-glycemic diet lost a significant amount of weight.
Linked Articles
Goss AM, Dowla S, Pendergrass M, Ashraf A, Bolding M, Morrison S, Amerson A, Soleymani T, Gower B. Effects of a carbohydrate-restricted diet on hepatic lipid content in adolescents with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A pilot, randomized trial. Pediatr Obes. 2020 Jul;15(7):e12630.
Older Adults with Obesity
In older adults with obesity, we compared a low-glycemic diet to a low-fat diet without restricting calories. This study revealed that:
- A carbohydrate restricted diet, but not a fat restricted diet, depleted visceral fat and inter-muscular adipose tissue (IMAT). IMAT is an ectopic muscle fat depot that impairs muscle function and metabolic health.
- Even though diets were not energy restricted, adults who consumed the low-glycemic diet lost a significant amount of weight.
Linked Articles
Gower BA, Alvarez JA, Bush NC, Hunter GR. Insulin sensitivity affects propensity to obesity in an ethnic-specific manner: results from two controlled weight loss intervention studies. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2013 Jan 8;10(1):3.
Further Reading
The sliding set-point: how insulin and diet interact to explain the obesity epidemic (and how to fix it). Gower BA, Goss AM. Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2018 Oct;25(5):303-309.
Greater Loss of Central Adiposity from Low-Carbohydrate versus Low-Fat Diet in Middle-Aged Adults with Overweight and Obesity. Garr Barry V, Stewart M, Soleymani T, Desmond RA, Goss AM, Gower BA. Nutrients. 2021 Jan 31;13(2):475.
Gower BA, Fowler LA. Obesity in African-Americans: The role of physiology. J Intern Med. 2020 Sep;288(3):295-304.
