Even if you eat slightly fewer carbohydrates, you'll be healthier. The positive health effects of moderately restricting carbohydrate intake may be modest, but according to a meta-study published in the European Journal of Nutrition, they are indeed significant.

Study
In 2026, researchers at the University of Greenwich in the UK published a meta-analysis of 18 previously published trials in which a total of 905 participants ate a low-carb or high-carb diet for 4-16 weeks. In the trials, the subjects in the low-carb and high-carb groups consumed the same amount of energy.

The British researchers were partly funded by Crown Sports Nutrition, a sports nutrition manufacturer.

The researchers examined the effect of a low-carb diet on values ​​such as LDL and HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting glucose, and fasting insulin.

The definition of "low-carb" was, well, liberal. The researchers used a cutoff point of 44 percent of energy. If less than 44 percent of the energy came from carbohydrates, the diet was considered low-carb, according to the researchers. If you eat as regular dietary counselors recommend, your energy intake will be somewhere between 40 and 60 percent.

Click on the table below for a larger version.

Results
The researchers found no negative effects whatsoever. In almost all areas, the values ​​moved in a positive direction for health. There were a few values ​​that showed little or no change - such as lean body mass and fasting insulin levels, respectively - but these did not worsen.

The greatest improvement was the decrease in triglycerides. You can see this below.

The table above summarizes the effects. With the exception of the decrease in triglycerides, they are mild. The decrease in LDL and HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting glucose, and the decrease in fat mass are positive for health, but the shifts are modest. In the trials in which the experimental group reduced carbohydrate intake to less than 25 percent, almost all the positive effects were stronger.

The study therefore shows that even a modest reduction in carbohydrate intake has a positive effect on health, but it does not do justice to the positive effects of stricter low-carb diets.

Conclusion
"These findings support the role of carbohydrate distribution, independent of physical activity status, in shaping metabolic and body composition outcomes", the researchers write.