Infographic

Evidence-Based Dietary Approaches for Chronic Diseases

As chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and heart disease affect millions of Americans and drive billions of dollars in annual economic costs, evidence-based dietary approaches offer a practical way to improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare spending.

Our infographic explains what low-carbohydrate and ketogenic diets are and how they work to support metabolic health. It summarizes research on the benefits of therapeutic carbohydrate restriction across a range of chronic conditions, includes real-world evidence of healthcare savings, and addresses common concerns about low-carbohydrate and ketogenic nutrition.

Download the Infographic

To learn more about how nutrition interventions can complement or provide alternatives to GLP-1 medications, read our policy brief.

To explore the science behind the low-carbohydrate recommendation in the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, watch our explainer video and read our evidence guide.

Randomized controlled trials and longitudinal studies show benefits across several conditions.

Beyond the conditions featured in the infographic, research has explored the use of low-carbohydrate and ketogenic diets across a growing number of disease areas. Additional evidence-supported conditions are highlighted below. References for both the infographic and the supplemental information on this page are listed below, organized by disease category.

Metabolic and Cardiovascular

  • Obesity and overweight — associated with greater weight loss and reduced fat mass compared with low-fat diets across multiple randomized controlled trials
  • Prediabetes — associated with improved glucose control, reduced HbA1c, and lower fasting glucose compared with usual diet in randomized controlled trials
  • Type 2 diabetes — associated with improved glycemic control and remission in more than 50% of participants in longitudinal studies
  • Type 1 diabetes — associated with improved glycemic control and reduced insulin requirements in clinical studies
  • Metabolic syndrome — associated with improvements in all five diagnostic markers, including blood glucose, triglycerides, HDL, blood pressure, and waist circumference
  • Cardiovascular risk factors — associated with lower triglycerides, higher HDL, lower blood pressure, and shifts toward less harmful LDL particles

Neurological and Psychiatric

  • Epilepsy — associated with meaningful reductions in seizure frequency in children with drug-resistant epilepsy across randomized controlled trials and more than 100 years of clinical use
  • Alzheimer’s disease — associated with improved cognitive function, daily living, and quality of life in multiple randomized controlled trials
  • Parkinson’s disease — associated with improved motor and non-motor symptoms in randomized controlled trials
  • Depression — associated with reduced depressive symptoms across multiple randomized controlled trials and remission in pilot trials
  • Bipolar disorder — associated with improved mood, anxiety, and metabolic health in pilot trials
  • Schizophrenia — associated with improved psychiatric and metabolic health in pilot trials

Women’s Health

  • Polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) — associated with higher ovulation rates, reduced testosterone levels, and improved insulin resistance compared with standard dietary interventions in randomized controlled trials
  • PCOS/PMOS-related infertility — associated with restored ovulation and improved pregnancy rates in clinical studies
  • Gestational diabetes — associated with safe maternal and fetal outcomes and reduced insulin use in clinical studies

Hepatic and Oncologic

  • MASLD (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease) — associated with rapid reductions in liver fat and inflammation in randomized controlled trials and lower risk of disease progression in a large real-world study
  • Cancer — associated with reduced blood glucose, lower insulin levels, improved treatment tolerance, and reduced tumor size when used alongside standard treatment in randomized controlled trials

References

References are organized by disease category and support both the infographic and the additional information presented on this page.

What Are Low-Carbohydrate and Ketogenic Diets? / How They Work

Recognition in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030

Research-Backed Benefits of Low-Carb and Ketogenic Nutrition for Chronic Conditions

Obesity and overweight

Prediabetes

Type 2 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes

Metabolic syndrome

Cardiovascular risk factors

Epilepsy

Alzheimer’s disease

Parkinson’s disease

Depression

Bipolar disorder

Schizophrenia

Polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS)

PMOS-related infertility

Gestational diabetes

MASLD (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease)

Cancer

Higher-Risk Populations

U.S. Economic Impact of Chronic Disease

Diabetes – $413 billion/year

Heart disease – $422 billion/year

Obesity – $1.3 trillion/year

Real-World Savings

7,500 patients; $929-$1,700 annual savings per patient

Common Concerns

Heart health

Kidney function

Clinical supervision

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