Effects of low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets.

Results: Sixty participants (82%) in the low-fat group and 59 (79%) in the low-carbohydrate group completed the intervention. At 12 months, participants on the low-carbohydrate diet had greater decreases in weight (mean difference in change, "3.5 kg [95% CI, "5.6 to "1.4 kg]; P # 0.002), fat mass (mean difference in change, "1.5% [CI, "2.6% to "0.4%]; P # 0.011), ratio of total–high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (mean difference in change, "0.44 [CI, "0.71 to "0.16]; P # 0.002), and triglyceride level (mean difference in change, "0.16 mmol/L ["14.1 mg/dL] [CI, "0.31 to "0.01 mmol/L {"27.4 to "0.8 mg/dL}]; P # 0.038) and greater increases in HDL cholesterol level (mean difference in change, 0.18 mmol/L [7.0 mg/dL] [CI, 0.08 to 0.28 mmol/L {3.0 to 11.0 mg/dL}]; P ! 0.001) than those on the low-fat diet.