Low Cal vs. Low Carb Diets

by Jill Corleone, RDN, LD
Limiting carbs in your diet helps you limit calories.

Limiting carbs in your diet helps you limit calories.

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Each year more than 50 million people in the United States go on a diet, but only 5 percent of those dieters keep the weight off, according to 2013 information provided by the Affordable Health Insurance Network. When it comes to losing weight and keeping it off, you need to find a diet you can follow for life. You can lose weight following a low-cal or low-carb diet, and understanding the difference between the two diets can help you determine which diet is the better fit.

Diet Basics

The premise of a low-calorie diet is very simple: reduce your calorie intake to help lose weight. For women, that means consuming 1,000 to 1,200 calories a day, while men and women who weigh more than 165 pounds, would need to consume 1,200 to 1,600 calories a day, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. On the low-carb diet, you limit your intake of carbohydrate-containing foods such as grains and fruit, and instead eat more protein foods such as meat and fish, nonstarchy vegetables including broccoli and bok choy, and healthy fats such as olive oil and walnut oil to help you lose weight.

Weight Loss

You can lose weight following either diet. A low-calorie diet helps you lose weight by creating a calorie deficit so that you consume fewer calories than you burn. Reducing your intake by 500 to 1,000 calories a day should produce a 1 to 2 pound weekly weight loss, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. A low-carb diet helps you lose weight by limiting the release of insulin. When you eat carbohydrate-containing foods, such as bread or pasta, your body breaks it down into sugar, which stimulates the release of insulin. This increases hunger, which can lead to weight gain, notes the University of Maryland Medical Center website.


In general, a low-cal diet is more nutritionally balanced diet than a low-carb diet. On a low-cal diet you typically eat foods from all the food groups, including fruits, vegetables, lean meats, whole grains and low-fat dairy products. While a low-cal diet is more balanced, you lose weight faster following a low-carb diet, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. Protein and fat take longer to leave the stomach, helping you stay full longer, which may make it easier for you to lose weight and explain the faster weight loss results. The reduced insulin levels also aid in hunger control.


A low-calorie diet can leave you feeling hungry, which may make it difficult for you to stick with it for the long term. However, a low-carb diet can make you sick if taken to the extreme. Limiting your carb intake to less than 20 grams a day can lead to ketosis, which is when your body does not have enough sugar to use as energy and uses fat instead, creating a by-product called ketones. In excessive amounts, these are toxic and can damage your liver and kidneys. Whether you're following the low-cal or low-carb diet, weight regain is common for all dieters, according to MayoClinic.com.

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