Review Protocol
Scientific literature search for low-carbohydrate studies
Inclusion Criteria
Studies in the English language, published from January 1 2000 to mid-2019 on are low-carbohydrate diet interventions and the following outcome measures:
- Efficacy in the treatment of metabolic disorders including type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, pre-diabetes; overweight and obesity; cardiovascular disease and related conditions
- Safety of a low-carbohydrate diet interventions; e.g., liver and kidney function
Study populations: human subjects of any age, all genders, nationalities, and race/ethnicities.
Study designs
Type of studies included:
- Trials (single-arm, multiple-arm; randomized, non-randomized; crossover)
- Systematic reviews of trials; systematic reviews of meta-analyses of trials. The systematic reviews may or may not include a meta-analysis.
- Patient and health care provider surveys
Exclusion Criteria
The literature search will exclude studies on a low-carbohydrate diet and the following outcomes:
- Treatment for neurological conditions and diseases
- Gestational diabetes
- Cancer
- Exercise and athletic performance
- Surgery for obesity
Search terms
- Low-carbohydrate
- Lower carbohydrate
- Ketogenic
- Carbohydrate restriction
- Carbohydrate-restricted
- High protein
- High fat
- Restricting carbohydrate
- Moderate carbohydrate
- Dietary pattern
- Diet composition
- Atkins diet
- NOT seizures, epilepsy, neurological, brain, neurodegenerative, mice, rats
Search sources:
PubMed
Search summary
The search and summary will follow these steps:
- # articles identified through database search (2514)
- # articles excluded based on titles and abstracts and reasons for exclusion per inclusion criteria (2301) =213
- removal of any duplicates (2 removed)
- 211 full-text articles assessed for appropriateness = 139 kept (99 of these already in database; others for which full article not accessible still need review)
- 101 additional articles identified through other sources (includes 99 noted above) + potentially more
- # articles included = potential 240 (pending review of some full articles)
- # removed b/c full article not available – 2 = 238