Table 2.
Baseline Characteristics of Study Participants in 23 Randomized Controlled Trials From Multiple Countries Comparing Low-Carbohydrate Diets With Low-Fat Dietsa, 1966–2011
| First Author, Year (Reference No.) | Diet | No. | Age, years (mean (SD)) | Men, % | Weight, kg (mean (SD)) | Metabolic Risk Factors, mean (SD) |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WC, cm | TC, mg/dL | LDL, mg/dL | HDL, mg/dL | TG, mg/dL | SBP, mmHg | DBP, mmHg | Glucose, mg/dL | Insulin, μIU/mL | ||||||
| Brehm, 2003 (5) | LFD | 20 | 43 (9) | 0 | 92 (6) | 185 (29) | 114 (30) | 49 (11) | 109 (45) | 115 (12) | 75 (9) | 91 (10) | 24 (11) | |
| LCD | 22 | 44 (7) | 0 | 91 (8) | 206 (30) | 125 (24) | 52 (13) | 149 (60) | 116 (14) | 79 (12) | 99 (12) | 17 (8) | ||
| Brinkworth, 2009 (22) | LFD | 36 | 50 (7) | 41 | 96 (15) | 107 (3) | 212 (4) | 131 (4) | 53 (2) | 159 (12) | 135 (12) | 77 (11) | 101 (2) | 10 (4) |
| LCD | 33 | 51 (8) | 32 | 95 (16) | 106 (3) | 209 (8) | 124 (4) | 56 (2) | 148 (12) | 132 (13) | 72 (10) | 103 (2) | 8 (3) | |
| Dansinger, 2005 (8) | LFD | 40 | 49 (12) | 43 | 103 (15) | 111 (13) | 214 (34) | 136 (37) | 45 (2) | 174 (130) | 133 (17) | 76 (9) | 121 (55) | 30 (18) |
| LCD | 40 | 47 (12) | 53 | 100 (14) | 109 (11) | 214 (31) | 136 (31) | 48 (16) | 152 (98) | 129 (17) | 77 (9) | 127 (62) | 22 (16) | |
| Davis, 2009 (23) | LFD | 50 | 53 (7) | 26 | 101 (19) | 166 (33) | 93 (28) | 46 (11) | 124 (59) | 130 (17) | 77 (10) | |||
| LCD | 55 | 54 (6) | 18 | 94 (18) | 170 (32) | 97 (27) | 50 (9) | 124 (74) | 125 (18) | 73 (9) | ||||
| Due, 2008 (24) | LFD | 43 | 29 (5) | 41 | 97 (14) | 103 (9) | 175 (39) | 107 (32) | 48 (13) | 102 (59) | 87 (6) | 6 (2) | ||
| LCD | 39 | 27 (5) | 43 | 95 (13) | 104 (9) | 171 (31) | 106 (31) | 47 (12) | 90 (42) | 90 (9) | 6 (3) | |||
| Ebbeling, 2007 (25) | LFD | 37 | 27 (4) | 22 | 103 (15) | 126 (34) | 54 (13) | 126 (81) | 108 (11) | 62 (9) | 88 (10) | 10 (7) | ||
| LCD | 36 | 28 (4) | 19 | 104 (17) | 102 (35) | 57 (20) | 112 (96) | 105 (12) | 63 (8) | 86 (8) | 11 (6) | |||
| Elhayany, 2009 (26) | LFD | 63 | 57 (6) | 56 | 86 (11) | 111 (9) | 212 (31) | 124 (31) | 43 (8) | 266 (62) | 182 (32) | 12 (7) | ||
| LCD | 61 | 56 (7) | 51 | 87 (14) | 113 (10) | 209 (35) | 120 (31) | 43 (8) | 283 (71) | 189 (36) | 14 (6) | |||
| Foster, 2003 (9) | LFD | 30 | 44 (7) | 26 | 98 (16) | 192 (33) | 120 (30) | 49 (13) | 123 (83) | 123 (14) | 75 (9) | |||
| LCD | 33 | 44 (9) | 36 | 99 (20) | 189 (30) | 130 (30) | 47 (11) | 131 (114) | 121 (11) | 78 (11) | ||||
| Foster, 2010 (17) | LFD | 154 | 45 (10) | 32 | 104 (14) | 124 (9) | 45 (12) | 124 (74) | 125 (16) | 76 (10) | ||||
| LCD | 153 | 46 (9) | 33 | 103 (16) | 120 (9) | 46 (14) | 113 (55) | 124 (14) | 74 (9) | |||||
| Frisch, 2009 (27) | LFD | 100 | 47 (10) | 24 | 99 (17) | 108 (13) | 214 (43) | 138 (35) | 56 (14) | 123 (58) | 128 (14) | 86 (8) | 101 (15) | |
| LCD | 100 | 47 (11) | 38 | 100 (16) | 110 (11) | 212 (36) | 137 (31) | 58 (14) | 116 (50) | 126 (13) | 86 (8) | 102 (20) | ||
| Gardner, 2007 (6) | LFD | 76 | 42 (6) | 0 | 86 (10) | 111 (27) | 50 (11) | 118 (62) | 116 (10) | 75 (8) | 93 (13) | 10 (5) | ||
| LCD | 77 | 42 (5) | 0 | 86 (13) | 109 (29) | 53 (14) | 125 (78) | 118 (11) | 75 (8) | 92 (9) | 10 (7) | |||
| Hockaday, 1978 (28) | LFD | 39 | 50 (24–65)b | 51 | 82 (56–114)b | 239 (48) | 141 (66) | 225 (81) | 11 (7) | |||||
| LCD | 54 | 53 (22–65)b | 59 | 76 (51–99)b | 251 (60) | 150 (78) | 195 (77) | 11 (7) | ||||||
| Iqbal, 2010 (29) | LFD | 72 | 60 (10) | 95 | 116 (17) | 181 (42) | 108 (37) | 41 (13) | 167 (96) | 140 (20) | 80 (12) | 145 (51) | ||
| LCD | 53 | 60 (9) | 84 | 118 (21) | 180 (46) | 110 (39) | 41 (13) | 155 (108) | 139 (20) | 79 (10) | 158 (62) | |||
| Klemsdal, 2010 (14) | LFD | 102 | 50 (8) | 38 | 100 (15) | 110 (10) | 232 (40) | 148 (39) | 50 (14) | 169 (100) | 129 (16) | 92 (10) | 101 (12) | 18 (11) |
| LCD | 100 | 50 (5) | 46 | 100 (16) | 111 (11) | 224 (38) | 145 (36) | 49 (14) | 171 (107) | 130 (13) | 91 (9) | 101 (17) | 16 (8) | |
| Lim, 2009 (30) | LFD | 28 | 49 (11) | 20 | 89 (3) | 220 (46) | 104 (73) | 54 (15) | 142 (53) | 129 (12) | 76 (10) | 96 (11) | 8 (4) | |
| LCD | 27 | 48 (8) | 20 | 88 (2) | 228 (39) | 120 (66) | 50 (12) | 159 (89) | 130 (15) | 77 (13) | 97 (11) | 11 (6) | ||
| McAuley, 2006 (31) | LFD | 24 | 45 (8) | 0 | 98 (16) | 109 (13) | 232 (35) | 151 (31) | 45 (9) | 166 (50) | 126 (12) | 81 (11) | 90 (11) | |
| LCD | 24 | 45 (7) | 0 | 97 (10) | 110 (10) | 224 (43) | 147 (35) | 44 (11) | 166 (73) | 131 (14) | 84 (10) | 92 (11) | ||
| Moran, 2006 (32) | LFD | 16 | 33 (5) | 0 | 96 (22) | 94 (7) | 11 (5) | |||||||
| LCD | 18 | 32 (6) | 0 | 96 (18) | 94 (7) | 15 (9) | ||||||||
| Sacks, 2009 (13) | LFD | 202 | 50 (10) | 33 | 92 (13) | 102 (12) | 203 (36) | 126 (32) | 49 (13) | 144 (79) | 120 (13) | 75 (9) | 92 (17) | 12 (8) |
| LCD | 201 | 51 (9) | 36 | 94 (16) | 104 (13) | 204 (35) | 126 (31) | 51 (16) | 141 (85) | 120 (15) | 76 (10) | 92 (13) | 12 (8) | |
| Shai, 2008 (11) | LFD | 104 | 51 (7) | 86 | 91 (12) | 105 (9) | 117 (36) | 39 (10) | 157 (62) | 130 (13) | 79 (9) | 87 (26) | 13 (7) | |
| LCD | 109 | 52 (7) | 91 | 92 (14) | 106 (9) | 117 (35) | 38 (9) | 182 (117) | 131 (15) | 79 (9) | 93 (29) | 14 (10) | ||
| Stern, 2004 (12) | LFD | 64 | 54 (9) | 85 | 129 (20) | 121 (28) | 41 (9) | 162 (78) | 139 (16) | 82 (9) | ||||
| LCD | 62 | 53 (9) | 80 | 132 (23) | 112 (32) | 41 (10) | 201 (204) | 133 (16) | 77 (11) | |||||
| Swenson, 2007 (33) | LFD | 13 | 40 (8) | 15 | 167 (71) | 140 (25) | ||||||||
| LCD | 19 | 42 (10) | 5 | 198 (85) | 145 (16) | |||||||||
| Thomson, 2010 (34) | LFD | 19 | 56 (9) | 0 | 83 (11) | 98 (10) | 201 (40) | 119 (34) | 54 (18) | 138 (54) | 136 (21) | 78 (10) | 100 (12) | 16 (9) |
| LCD | 21 | 56 (9) | 0 | 85 (14) | 102 (11) | 195 (26) | 112 (23) | 60 (15) | 115 (45) | 127 (14) | 81 (11) | 98 (15) | 17 (17) | |
| Yancy, 2004 (10) | LFD | 60 | 46 (9) | 22 | 97 (19) | 240 (35) | 147 (31) | 54 (15) | 191 (106) | 133 (16) | 82 (8) | |||
| LCD | 59 | 44 (10) | 25 | 98 (15) | 245 (35) | 159 (27) | 55 (15) | 158 (106) | 134 (16) | 82 (9) | ||||
| Total | LFD | 1396 | 48 | 39 | 98 | 108 | 208 | 125 | 48 | 149 | 127 | 79 | 109 | 13 |
| LCD | 1392 | 48 | 40 | 99 | 108 | 209 | 124 | 49 | 149 | 126 | 78 | 111 | 13 | |
Abbreviations: DBP, diastolic blood pressure; HDL, high density lipoprotein cholesterol; LCD, low-carbohydrate diet; LDL, low density lipoprotein cholesterol; LFD, low-fat diet; SBP, systolic blood pressure; SD, standard deviation; TC, total cholesterol; TG, triglycerides; WC, waist circumference.
a Baseline data were from all participants in the study.
b Expressed as mean (range).