Table 7. Excluded studies and reasons for exclusion.

Reasons for exclusion	Number of studies excluded
Not a randomised controlled trial	4 [71]–[74]
Duration of the intervention <12 weeks	40 [75]–[114]
All three macronutrients not prescribed (or cannot be calculated as proportions of the total energy intake)	20 [115]–[134]
Non-English language	1 [135]
Test meal response measured	1 [136]
Meal replacement	2 [137], [138]
Combined interventions were involved	3 [139]–[141]
Treatment and control both low carbohydrate – not an eligible comparison	3 [142]–[144]
Comparison not meaningful (carbohydrate content of treatment and controls differ <5% of TE)	2 [145], [146]
No eligible balanced carbohydrate control	1 [147]
Crossover trial where first period data cannot be extracted: 1	1 [148]
Substantial disparity in energy intake between prescribed intervention diets	13 [49], [51], [149]–[159]
Treatment diet is not low in carbohydrates	26 [160]–[185]
Control diet is not within balanced macronutrient range	4 [186]–[189]
Duplicate and/or complimentary	24 [190]–[213]
Energy intake ad libitum	8 [214]–[221]
Ineligible low carbohydrate diet variant	6 [222]–[227]
Less than 10 participants randomised per group	1 [228]

RCT = randomised controlled trial; CHO = carbohydrate.