Low-fat and low-carb diets contribute to weight loss just about equally. In a study from the Stanford University School of Medicine, using 609 participants between the ages of 18 and 50 with about equal numbers of males and females, it was found that limiting either carbs or fats will contribute to weight loss the same amount. What is more, the study also tested all participants’ specific genotype patterns and insulin levels before they began their respective diets, and neither factor could predict an individual’s success with one approach or the other. Each group started their intake of either fat or carbs at just 20 grams a day and then slowly added it back until they reached an amount they could sustain for the course of the yearlong study (an amount which was significantly less than the starting fat/carb intake). While the study definitively answered that certain genotypes do not affect your weight’s reaction to low-carb or low-fat, there was a drastic disparity in results on both sides, with the average participant losing 13 pounds. The study authors decided that the main takeaway was that the fundamental strategy to either approach was the same: be more mindful of your food intake, and as a result eat less sugar, more vegetables, and mostly whole foods. That is where people on both sides saw results.