Do low-carbohydrate diets increase energy expenditure?

Proponents of low-carbohydrate diets have claimed that such diets result in a substantial increase in total energy expenditure (TEE) amounting to 400–600 kcal/day [ 1 ] thereby providing patients with a “high calorie way to stay thin forever” [ 2 ]. However, a recent systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled feeding studies found no meaningful TEE effects comparing isocaloric diets with equivalent amounts of protein but varying in their proportion of carbohydrate to fat [ 3 ]. Nevertheless, it is possible that these past studies may have failed to create the appropriate conditions to reveal the hypothesized increase in TEE during a low-carbohydrate diet [ 4 ].