A study conducted by scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center indicates that people who consume low-carbohydrate diets rely more on the oxidation of fat in the liver for energy as compared to those who consume a low-calorie diet.

According to researchers, their findings would lead to fresh avenues in treating obesity and obesity related diseases like diabetes, insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Research was conducted on 14 overweight people who were put either on low-carb diet or low calorie diet. It was found that people who were on a low-carb diet lost about twice the weight as those on low calorie diet in two weeks time. The researchers were also able to see changes in the liver function in both the categories. The average weight loss for low calorie dieters was 2.2 kg whereas it was 4.3 kg in case of low-carb dieters.

Lead author of the study Dr. Jeffrey Browning, assistant professor in the UT Southwestern Advanced Imaging Research Center and of internal medicine at the medical centre said the study threw light on the working of the liver and how diet could cause a "dramatic change" in where and how the liver was producing glucose. He said that the research offered new hope for targeted non drug-related treatments for obesity and also liver-related disorders such as diabetes, insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Now instead of using drugs to combat obesity, optimized the diet would be able to help the patients. (Harkiran contributed to this report)