Expert consensus on nutrition and lower-carbohydrate diets: An evidence- and equity-based approach to dietary guidance

Jeff S Volek; William S Yancy Jr; Barbara A Gower; Stephen D Phinney; Joanne Slavin; Andrew P Koutnik; Michelle Hurn; Jovonni Spinner; Mark Cucuzzella; Frederick M Hecht

doi:10.3389/fnut.2024.1376098

Expert consensus on nutrition and lower-carbohydrate diets: An evidence- and equity-based approach to dietary guidance

Front Nutr. 2024 Feb 29:11:1376098. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1376098. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Human Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.
² Department of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States.
³ Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States.
⁴ Independent Researcher, Elk Grove, CA, United States.
⁵ Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, United States.
⁶ Sansum Diabetes Research Institute, Santa Barbara, CA, United States.
⁷ The Dietetian's Dilemma, Portland, OR, United States.
⁸ Beacon Public Health, Riverland, MD, United States.
⁹ Department of Family Medicine, West Virginia University, Martinsburg, WV, United States.
¹⁰ Osher Center for Integrative Health, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States.

Abstract

There is a substantial body of clinical evidence supporting the beneficial effects of lower-carbohydrate dietary patterns on multiple established risk factors associated with insulin resistance and cardiovascular diseases in adult populations. Nutrition and health researchers, clinical practitioners, and stakeholders gathered for, "The Scientific Forum on Nutrition, Wellness, and Lower-Carbohydrate Diets: An Evidence- and Equity-Based Approach to Dietary Guidance" to discuss the evidence base around lower-carbohydrate diets, health outcomes, and dietary guidance. Consensus statements were agreed upon to identify current areas of scientific agreement and spotlight gaps in research, education, and practice to help define and prioritize future pathways. Given the evidence base and considering that most American adults are living with at least one nutrition-related chronic disease, there was consensus that including a lower-carbohydrate dietary pattern as one part of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans could help promote health equity among the general population.

Keywords: dietary guidelines; eating patterns; health equity; high-fat; insulin resistance; low-carbohydrate; obesity; type 2 diabetes.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The Scientific Forum on Nutrition, Wellness, and Lower Carbohydrate Diets: an Evidence- and Equity-Based Approach to Dietary Guidance was funded by an unrestricted educational grant from SIMPLY GOOD FOODS. SIMPLY GOOD FOODS was not involved in the writing or submission of the final manuscript.